The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has updated guidelines for dental amalgams:

Dental amalgam fillings may release small amounts of mercury in the form of a vapor (gas), depending on the number and age of existing fillings, and actions such as tooth grinding and gum chewing. When a new amalgam filling is placed or an old filling is removed, patients and healthcare providers may experience a temporary increase in exposure to mercury vapor. While there are no known health risks associated with ingestion (swallowing) of small particles of dental amalgam, inhaling (breathing in) mercury vapors may be harmful in certain patients.

In general, people with multiple dental amalgam fillings may have slightly higher mercury levels in their blood or urine, however, they usually remain at a level considered safe. Studies on people with dental amalgam do not show conclusive evidence that dental amalgam causes harmful health effects in the general population.

FDA

The FDA goes on to state that certain people, “including women who are pregnant or who are planning to become pregnant, nursing mothers, children (especially those under the age of six), people with a known allergy to mercury, and people with a neurological impairment or kidney dysfunction,” could be more susceptible to damage caused by dental amalgam. They recommend that anyone who is of the “high-risk populations identified” should avoid dental amalgam “if possible and appropriate.”

Related: Heal Cavities, Gum Disease, Naturally with Organic Oral Care – Toothpaste recipes included

The FDA says that groups with greater risk for potential harmful health effects of mercury vapor include:

• People with known heightened sensitivity (allergies) to mercury or other components of dental amalgams
• People with pre-existing neurological conditions
• Pregnant women and developing fetuses
• Nursing women and their babies
• Children, especially younger than six years
• People with poor kidney health

Sources:

1. Information for Patients About Dental Amalgam Fillings – FDA
2. Breaking: FDA Acknowledges Amalgam Fillings Potential Harm for Pregnant Women & Children – Health Nut News

The New Jersey state legislature has voted to ban single-use plastic bags in all stores and restaurants. This bill also bans the use of single-use polystyrene at restaurants and paper bags at grocery stores and is the most thorough single-use plastic ban in the United States.

This bill is probably the strongest, most comprehensive bill in the nation dealing with plastics and packaging. It will go a long way in our battle with plastic pollution.”

Jeff Tittel, the director of the New Jersey Sierra Club

The bill has been approved in the legislature, and NJ governor Scott Murphy is expected to sign the bill into law.

“The governor is proud to support the strongest bag ban in the nation. This bill will significantly reduce the harm that these products cause to our environment.”

Mahen Gunaratna, Governor Murphy’s communications director

Related: How to Detox From Plastics and Other Endocrine Disruptors

Plastics companies took advantage of the coronavirus earlier in the year to put holds on several plastic bag bans. Many municipalities, even in California, chose to instead ban reusable bags. Some states (Florida, cough, cough) even have laws prohibiting the ban of single-use plastics bags.

Many opponents of the bill claim that this ban will put businesses at a disadvantage, but at this point, there is no excuse for continuing to use single-use plastic bags. Eco-friendly bag options are widely available. The average American family takes home an average of 1,500 plastic bags each year, and only 1% of those bags end up recycled. These bags stay in landfills for centuries, breaking down into microplastics and releasing endocrine disruptors.

Recommended: How To Heal Your Gut 

At this point, we are knowingly poisoning our environment and ourselves for grocery store convenience and fossil fuel profits. We shouldn’t have to live this way.

The secretary of California Health and Human Services, Dr. Mark Ghaly, announced on Friday that the state of California will be forming an independent review board to evaluate COVID-19 vaccine data.

We think it is an appropriate approach to take, especially because things are moving so quickly. We want to make sure — despite the urge and interest in having a useful vaccine — that we do it with the utmost safety of Californians in mind.”

Dr. Mark Ghaly, secretary of CA Health and Human Services

Related: Natural Coronavirus Prevention

California is not the only state or jurisdiction saying they will independently analyze coronavirus vaccines. Others include Colorado, the District of Columbia, Michigan, New York, Oregon, and West Virginia. Montana and Wyoming have said they would only administer vaccines if they had completed clinical trials and had been reviewed by an outside committee.

Confidence in the coronavirus vaccine has been steadily waning as government timelines continue to waver. President Trump has consistently promised that the vaccine will be ready before the election and all Americans will be vaccinated by April, while the director of the CDC, Dr. Robert Redfield, maintains that widespread vaccination will not be achieved until the third quarter of 2021. According to a new survey from the Pew Research Center, only 51% of Americans would probably get the vaccine as opposed to the 72% that would give the same answer in May.

On Wednesday, Dr. Anthony Fauci told congress that even with a vaccine we should not expect a “return to normalcy” until mid-late 2021. Fauci reported that an FDA approved coronavirus vaccine would take awhile due to “rigorous clinical testing required” for what they deem safe and effective vaccines.

President Trump maintains that there should be a safe vaccine by the end of October, with enough vaccines available for everyone by April. Concerns have been raised about the safety of a vaccine created under the Trump administration, while others are concerned that politics will influence the vaccine approval process.

Related: Natural Coronavirus Prevention

There is “growing optimism” that scientists will find one or more safe and effective vaccines by the end of the year or early 2021 and the U.S. could have enough vaccine doses by April. 

Fauci tells Congress the U.S. could have enough coronavirus vaccine doses for every American by April

Despite concerns over Trump’s timeline, Fauci shared a similar timeline, anticipating that the U.S. should have 700 million vaccines ready by April. Fauci expects 50 million vaccines to be ready by November. It’s expected that high-risk people, such as the elderly and health care workers will be vaccinated first, with an estimated six to nine months to vaccinate the entire population. Four companies: Moderna, Pfizer, AstraZeneca, and Johnson & Johnson, are currently in stage three trial testing. All have been backed by the Trump administration’s Covid-19 vaccine program.

Related: How To Detoxify and Heal From Vaccinations – For Adults and Children

The drama surrounding COVID-19 vaccines continues as President Trump suggested that the executive branch would not support stricter guidelines for evaluating a COVID-19 vaccine. If approved, the new guidelines from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) would include additional specifications for clinical trial data and a committee of independent experts to review that data before any vaccine is approved. President Trump continues to promise a vaccine before the end of the year, despite experts saying that is unlikely. Trump asserted that the plan to introduce more guidelines was political in nature.

Related: Natural Coronavirus Prevention

That has to be approved by the White House. We may or may not approve it. That sounds like a political move. I think that was a political move more than anything else…”

President Trump

This announcement will add fuel to the growing anti-Trump-vaxxer movement taking place in the Democratic party. Vice presidential nominee Kamala Harris cast doubt on the efficacy and safety of a COVID-19 vaccine implemented during a Trump presidency earlier in September.

I will say that I would not trust Donald Trump, and it would have to be a credible source of information that talks about the efficacy and the reliability of whatever he’s talking about….I will not take his word for it.”

Senator Kamala Harris

Related: How To Detoxify and Heal From Vaccinations – For Adults and Children

The United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has amended the Public Readiness and Emergency Preparedness Act (PREP Act), and now children can receive their childhood vaccines at pharmacies in all 50 states. This action is a direct response to the drop in vaccination rates due to COVID-19. A Centers for Disease Control (CDC) report from May of 2020 found that less than half of children aged 5-16 months were up to date on their vaccinations. The HHS plans to increase those rates by making vaccines more readily accessible, especially for those who are unable to go to the doctor’s office.

Today’s action means easier access to lifesaving vaccines for our children, as we seek to ensure immunization rates remain high during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Trump Administration has worked to allow pharmacists—alongside all of America’s heroic healthcare workers—to practice at the top of their license, empowering the public with more options to protect their health and well-being.”

Alex Azar, HHS secretary

Related: Natural Coronavirus Prevention

Any FDA approved vaccines will be available at pharmacies, where they will be administered to children aged 3-18 by a licensed pharmacist or a supervised, licensed pharmacy intern. Prior to this amendment, pharmacists were able to administer vaccines in 28 different states. Another factor in lower vaccination rates is the lack of access to health care for many individuals who have lost their jobs. Perhaps a government showing concern about the potential for a public health crisis due to low vaccination rates should also be concerned about giving the public free access to the services it deems necessary.

Related: How To Detoxify and Heal From Vaccinations – For Adults and Children

Iceland has a population of 354,134 people across 40,000 square miles, making it one of the most sparsely populated countries in the world. Unlike the U.S, Iceland was on top of the coronavirus situation before it became too big of an issue.

Before the end of February, Iceland implemented a contact tracing team, which shortly got the notice that the first case of Covid-19 had been confirmed. The tracing team considered anyone who spent more than 15 minutes near the man infected with the first case, to be possibly infected. Within 24 hours they had come up with a list of 56 people who were “potentially infected”, and contacted them with orders to quarantine for 14 days.

Related: Natural Coronavirus Prevention

The tracing team, too, kept growing, until it had fifty-two members. They worked in shifts out of conference rooms in a Reykjavík hotel that had closed for lack of tourists. To find people who had been exposed, team members scanned airplane manifests and security-camera footage. They tried to pinpoint who was sitting next to whom on buses and in lecture halls.

How Iceland ‘Virtually Eliminated’ Its Coronavirus Cases

Unfortunately, three cases followed the first, six more cases after that, and by mid-march, there were 60, 70, up to 100 new cases a day. Relative to the population, cases were rising at a higher rate than even here in the U.S. That being said, Iceland also tested at a higher rate per capita than other country in the world. By May 17th, 15.5% of the population had been tested. By mid-may, the tracing team was nearly out of potentially infected people to contact, and only two new cases had been reported in the previous week.

Coronavirus tests in Iceland also testing the DNA sequence of the virus from everyone who tested positive. The virus picks up random mutations as it is passed from person to person, thus allowing researchers to track the diseases spread. Researchers found, despite most of Europe focusing on Italy, the virus had come in from many different nations, Britain, the U.S, both West, and East cost, Austria, and back and forth between countries.

If you’re worried about the coronavirus, the best thing you can do for yourself and those around you is to prioritize gut health through a healthy diet. Read this article to learn more about how to heal the gut.