©2004 Suzin Stockton
Since this is our first edition of "Cavitations Plus Quarterly," we have no actual "Letters to the Editor" to reprint. However, we do want to share two other bits of relevant correspondence that should be of interest. The first letter is one written by me (Suzin) to "The Townsend Letter for Doctors and Patients" and printed in the June, 1998, edition of that magazine.
Editor:
It came to my attention several months ago that the breakdown products of many of the local anesthetics commonly used in dentistry are aggressively carcinogenic. This information was passed on to me from folks involved in the practice of biological dentistry who were so strongly affected by the finding they had uncovered that they greatly reduced the use of aniline-based injectable anesthetics, replacing them with intravenously administered demerol in their practice.
The aniline-based anesthetics encompass the "caine" family of anesthetics (lidocaine, prilocaine, procaine, etc.). According to Dr. Alfred Nickel ("Aniline-induced Toxicities from Local Anesthetics," http://www.garynull.com/Article.aspx?Article=/Library.aspx&Head=Library), "aniline compounds are well documented human poisons, classic carcinogens and neurotoxins." And, "The most effective route of delivery is injection into the human bloodstream," for entering the body in this manner, they escape both gastrointestinal absorption and liver detoxification.
The Concise American Heritage Dictionary defines aniline as "a colorless, oily, poisonous liquid" ... used to manufacture various industrial products, including rubber, resins and varnishes. Anilines belong to the chemical family known as aromatic hydrocarbons. Other members of this family include benzene, phenol, hydroquinone, toluene, xylene and napthalene. All have similar effects, described by Dr. Stephen C. Byrnes ("Benzene and AIDS," Townsend Letter for Doctors and Patients, 4/98), "They accumulate in and damage the bone marrow, causing anemia and depressed immune function." Dr. Byrnes goes on to state that aniline is related to both benzene and ammonia, and it is "used to make a variety of organic chemical compounds, including pharmaceuticals, photographic chemicals and dye intermediaries." Tobacco and pesticides also contain some anailine derivatives.
According to Dr. Nickel, bladder cancer among aniline dye workers was described as early as 1895 by a German doctor. Despite this and other early (pre-1900) findings regarding the health hazards of anilines, the use of novacaine, developed in 1905, soon became widespread. We now routinely use such aniline-based local anesthetics in medicine and dentistry with no thought to (or knowledge of) their toxic properties. Why has the knowledge of aniline-induced toxicity from local anesthetics been overlooked? Could it have something to do with the fact that annual sales of these anesthetics amount to some $500,000,000. in the U.S. alone?
Dr. Nickel tells us that "The theory that the local anesthetic molecule is always excreted from the body intact is unsupported in the scientific literature" and is based largely on "assurances of pharmaceutical companies that manufacture local anesthetics..." He goes on to cite evidence of the metabolic conversion of aniline pharmaceuticals to their aniline homologs. That evidence includes a 1972 study wherein the aniline derivative, 2,6-dimethylaniline, was recovered from the urine of animals who had been given lidocaine orally, as well as human studies with similar findings published in 1994. 2,6-dimethylaniline is known to cross the blood-brain barrier and to "alter gross neurological structure" in animal studies, according to Nickel.
Since the effect of anilines is cumulative, repetitive exposure to them, as one has when undergoing prolonged, extensive medical or dental treatment, can constitute a major, overlooked cause of cancer and other serious disorders. Although no formal studies have established a link between cancer in humans and exposure to local anesthetics, evidence suggests a connection. Among the evidence cited by Nickel is the following observation:
Our research team noted a curious and intriguing commonality among the 30 cancer patients evaluated at a recent meeting of the tumor board of one of the local hospitals. Each patient's dental history was visualized on the total body scans (crowns, fillings, etc. produce shadows on the film). The total body scans clearly demonstrated that each of the patients had undergone from 12 to 28 crown and bridge dental procedures, necessitating extensive exposure to local anesthetics.
The amount of aniline resulting from routine clinical use of local anesthetics frequently exceeds the maximum recommended in daily occupational exposure (skin and lung exposure of 10 and 20 mg. per cubic meter in short and long-term exposure respectively). Only 1 cc of 2% lidocaine produces 10 mg. of 2, 6-dimethylaniline. A dentist may inject as much as 14 cc of lidocaine when doing an extraction. This amounts to 140 mg. of 2, 6 dimethylaniline. Considering that one unfiltered cigarette contains 102 nanograms of 2,6-dimethylaniline, "It would be necessary to smoke a pack of unfiltered cigarettes a day for approximately 12.9 years to inhale an equivalent amount of 2,6-dimethylaniline to that injected in a single cc of 2% lidocaine," according to Nickel.
Referencing two toxicological guides, The Hazardous Chemicals Desk Reference and The Handbook of Poisoning, Dr. Byrnes summarizes this information on the effects of lidocaine:
...(Lidocaine is a ) poison by ingestion and subcutaneous routes. Excitement, hallucinations, distorted perceptions, changes in heart rate and apnea. Anesthetic rapidly absorbed by mucous methemoglobenemia.
Ingestion of anilines at levels greater than 1 gram can also cause headache, paresthesia, hyperalgia, polyneuritis, dizziness, hypotension, convulsion, muscle weakness and digestive distress, according to Nickel who also cites German literature which refers to development of allergies and "other known neurotoxicities" in human subjects from hyroxyaniline (breakdown product of novacaine/procaine). A host of other symptoms has been recorded in animal studies.
In view of the suppressed information that has now surfaced regarding aniline toxicity, the widespread use of aniline-based local anesthetics in medicine and dentistry should be seriously reassessed.