Expert: Walter Hintz - 10/6/2011

Question
Mr. Hintz,

I hope this s not too odd a question or outside your experience, but I'll throw it at you and hope you can catch it.

I'm curious to know why there are heavy metals in human feces. Is this a feature of omnivorous mammals, and if so, where do these metals come from? Also, why do they not harm us if they are inside us, even for a little while?

THANKS in advance!

Answer
Hi Eleanor
 The main metals we ingest are iron and zinc. We get them into our system from many foods both animals and plants It is the main component of hemoglobin in meat. So we are always ingesting heavy metals. Iron is added so some foods as a supplement. Any metals found in feces has not been metabolized. Metals not in compound do not harm us because they are inert. Under some circumstances the inability to metabolize iron can cause a buildup ( called Hemachromatosis) with severe physical problems