Also on Pink Disease information from the Pink Disease site.....



It's generally accepted that exposure to mercury was the cause of Pink Disease ALONG with some other predisposing factor, such as hypersensitivity to mercury, a molecular malfunction, immaturity or malfunction of adrenal medulla, or prior illness.

The most common cause of mercury exposure for babies in the English speaking Western World, up until the late 1950's, was from certain brands of teething powders. Teething powders were also known as soothing powders. It is estimated that only 1 in 500 babies given teething powders got Pink Disease.





Pink Disease occurred in older children in Europe because the most common cause was worming preparations containing mercury.



In continental Europe, calomel was used in worming medicine given to children but teething powders were not used; hence the older age of the children afflicted.





The mothers and other care-givers of babies with Pink Disease suffered severe exhaustion from lack of sleep, severe stress and loss of weight. Family life was generally disrupted by the baby's constant crying.





In Britain, doctors were reporting that 61% of children who died were under 1 year of age. The peak danger period seemed to be between six months and two years. Yet in continental Europe, the victims were often older, aged up to 10 years. Southern states in America were more affected than northern states.





Since mercury poisoning can cause blood disorders such as anaemia, another theory was that Pink Disease was caused by a vitamin deficiency - particularly of the B-Group vitamins. This theory was discarded because most the children who had Pink Disease were well fed and well cared for children. Children in countries with a low standard of living, where deficiency diseases were more common, did not get Pink Disease.





Two theories are discussed in "The Causes of Pink Disease". They are Warkany's and Hubbard's mercury theory that relates to what "caused" Pink Disease, and Cheek's and Hicks' theory which relates to the physiology of Pink Disease. Both the theories and methods of studying them had problems but fortunately, fate stepped in and proved that mercury was the catalyst for PD. Unfortunately, this meant that all research into the physiology of the Disease and the long-term side effects virtually ceased.





A major flaw in Dr. Warkany's experimental method was not noticed immediately. In different areas, mercury exposure is different. Some areas used mercury teething powders. Other areas had a lot of mercury because of industrial or agricultural use. Warkany's control group came from Cincinatti where mercury was not freely used and therefore significant levels of mercury in the urine would be unlikely. His Pink Disease samples came from areas where mercury use was common.




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Take Care

Lynn