Date:         Thu, 20 Apr 1995 22:37:43 -0700 (PDT)
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         Alistair Bell <ui775@freenet.victoria.bc.ca>
Subject:      Re:EDTA was: Speaking of batteries...



On Thu, 20 Apr 1995, Jack Reed wrote:

> solution.  Also to remove heavy metals poisoning, such as lead, from 
> those too young to know better.  It's extremely benign, even in high 
> concentrations, as I'm sure you're aware.
> 

I know we're straying far from VWs but I would have to disagree with the
statement that EDTA is "extremely benign". We, that is all living
creatures, rely on ions (anions, cations, mono,di and polyvalent) as key
components in all biochemical events. Any substance that would interfere,
by chelation or binding, of these ions can cause dramatic effects. Calcium
ions, for example, are integral to the mechanism of muscle contraction. I
mentioned the controversial plaque removing treatment involving EDTA, part
of the controversy lies in the judging of how much EDTA to administer (by
injection), and not affect normal biochemical pathways.

Please don't take my skepticism the wrong way, I do like hashing these
things out, I learn more.

Alistair