In order to understand whether or not a child has a high body burden of toxic metals, a number of approaches can be taken. It can be helpful to assess the exposure your child may have had. Toxic metals are found in many places. The following is a fairly complete listing of toxic metals and their everyday sources. Many parents also choose to pursue testing.

A test for urinary porphyrins can give some idea about toxic exposure. A porphyrin test (available from Laboratoire Philippe Auguste) will not assess body burden (there is no definitive test) but it can help you make an intelligent inference about the metals that may be damaging your child. You can read more about porphyrins in the Useful Documents section and you can order a porphyrins test from Laboratoire Philippe Auguste here http://www.labbio.net/index.php?page=order.

More information available in Testing, found in the Useful Documents section. Some parents choose to use a hair test form Doctor's Data and apply the counting rules from the research of Andrew Hall Cutler, PhD, to determine if their child has heavy metal toxicity. This test, like the porphyrin test, is non-invasive. This test can also provide other useful information, such as insights on adrenal fatigue, low stomach acid, and other conditions our children often struggle with. For more information please the Testing document in the Useful Documents section.

Some practitioners recommend "challenge" or "provocation" tests to determine toxicity. These tests are most unreliable for three reasons. Often, children with heavy metal toxicity will not excrete any metals for quite some time after commencing chelation. It is very often difficult to catch the right specimen (either urine or feces, depending on the chelator used) that will reflect excretion. Almost any human being that can excrete metals effectively will excrete during a challenge test; however, this does not mean a person is heavy metal toxic.

Lastly, challenge tests that use high, single doses of chelator can be very hard on some children, causing regressions and discomfort. Chelation can be done orally, rectally (with suppositories) or through intravenous. The most common chelators are DMSA, LA (lipoic acid), DMPS, and EDTA. Chelators are given on a protocol (determining dosage and timing) and the body is supported by supplementation of certain vitamins and minerals. There is controversy regarding the best protocol to use and if following this route a parent must determine which protocol makes the most sense to them.

Some parents and practitioners choose to do periodic testing to determine excretion levels (urine and fecal toxic metals tests), liver (AST, ALT, GGT, and bilirubin) and kidney status (urinalysis, BUN, and creatinine), and mineral levels (blood tests). Chelation is a long term treatment; heavy metal toxicity in our children is chronic, rather than acute. It is important to note that chelation must never occur if silver amalgam fillings (which are 50% mercury) are in place. Chelation has an excellent ARI rating, with approximately 75% of children showing improvements from chelation. For more information on this treatment, consider reading the paper "The role of thiols, dithiols, nutritional factors and interacting ligands in the toxicology of mercury" by James PK Rooney, in the Useful Documents section.

Also consider the following resources: http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/Autism-Mercury/ http://home.earthlink.net/~moriam/ , http://www.autismwebsite.com/ARI/vaccine/heavymetals.pdf .

Other supplements that can support general detoxification include (see Supplements for more detailed information): Phosphatidylcholine, which can support the liver. Dimethylglycine or Trimethylgycine, which can offer glycine for liver conjugation. TMG and DMG also promote adequate methylation, an important metabolic pathway for detoxification. Glutathione, the most important extracellular and intracellular antioxidant. Sulphates, see Epsom Salts in the Useful Documents section. Methylcobalamin or MB12, which can be important for addressing methylation pathway problems. Often given as injections or transdermally. See Methylation in the Useful Documents section. Some parents also use sauna to promote excretion of toxic metals and xenobiotics (such as dioxins and polychlorinated biphenyls). It is important to follow an established sauna protocol that has been proven safe for children and to choose a sauna that will not make toxicity levels worse because it is manufactured with toxic glues and other materials. You can find out a bit more about sauna here