Re: Do Mercury and novocain cross the blood brain barrier?

The answer to both questions is yes.

Novocain is a trade name for the local anesthetic procaine.  A local 
anesthetic may be absorbed into the  blood stream from its site of 
application and, then, penetrate into the central nervous system (REFERENCE 
1).  If sufficient quantities of the drug are absorbed, restlessnes, tremor 
and clonic convulsions may occur (REFERENCE 1).

The following information related to mercury toxicity was taken from a 
review authored by Drs. B. Diner and B. Brenner of The Department of 
Emergency Medicine, The Brooklyn Hospital Ceneter (REFERENCE 2).
   "Dental amalgams also contain elemental mercury. Dental professionals 
who are in contact with amalgam must follow specific guidelines in order 
not to be exposed to toxic amounts of aerosolized elemental mercury. 
Patients with dental amalgam fillings have slightly elevated levels in 
their urine, but these findings have not correlated with any systemic 
disease."
These authors also note that, "Elemental mercury as a vapor has the ability 
to penetrate the CNS, where it is ionized and trapped, attributing to its 
significant toxic effects."


REFERENCES
1.   Goodman & Gilman's The Pharmacological Basis of Therapeutics, Hardman 
et al. editors, ninth edition, 1996, pp.  331-347.

2.   a reveiw of mercury toxicity, autored by Drs. B. Diner and B. Brenner, 
maintained by emedicine; the web link is: http://emedicine.com/cgi-bin/foxweb.exe/showsection@d:/em/ga?book=e
merg&top
icid=813