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Ellen White and Mercury Poisoning

By Dirk Anderson, Nov. 2009

Did Ellen White come into contact with mercury? And could it have caused some of the health problems she encountered in life?

Contact with Mercury

Mercury is a deadly poison associated with a variety of physical, mental, and psychological problems.

"Symptoms of mercury poisoning begin with concentration and attention problems and progress to anxiety, agitation, excessive emotions, impaired motor function, impaired memory, depression, hallucinations, tremors, slurred speech, and mental retardation."¹

Mercury poisoning was first identified during Ellen White's era:

A Mad Hatter is depicted suffering from mercury poisoning in the 19th century (drawing by Sir John Tenniel)

"Hat makers in the nineteenth century began to develop neurological and psychiatric disorders, manifested by weakness, tremors, and personality changes. It was due to the water-soluble mercury nitrate they used to soften and shape animal furs such as beaver pelts. This process was called 'felting.' Mercury from the felting solution was absorbed through the skin, and the vapors it gave off were inhaled, leading to mercury poisoning."²

According to Arthur White, Ellen's father "Robert found his work as a hatter more prosperous than his farming, and the family moved sometime between 1831 and 1833 to the city of Portland, where he could give his full time to his trade."³

Arthur White goes on to describe how Robert Harmon carried on his hat-making business in the Harmon home:

"The inside of the house was equipped for hatmaking. The animal pelts he bought would soon begin their transformation into fur top hats. First he would lay the pelt on a table and with a stout brush rub in a solution of mercuric nitrate. This highly poisonous solution was necessary to make the infinitesimal barbs on each strand of fur become more pronounced. Then with either large shears or a scraping knife he would remove the fur from the skin and place it in a stack. After the hair had been laboriously picked out of the fur, the most difficult part of the process began. A device resembling a violin bow but five or six times as big was brought down over the table. Snapping the catgut on the pile of fur on the bench separated, scattered, and gradually deposited the particles in a smaller and finer sheet. Each sheet represented one hat. With further manipulation, the fibers hooked themselves together into what ultimately became the fur fabric of the hat. The rest of the process is difficult to describe, but Ellen eventually learned the simplest part of it, which was shaping the crown of the hat."⁴

This shows the Ellen was not only involved in the Harmon hat-making operation, but that her father used a solution containing toxic mercury. Ellen writes:

"Our father was a hatter, and it was my allotted task to make the crowns of the hats, that being the easiest part of the work. I also knit stockings at twenty-five cents a pair. My heart was so weak that I was obliged to sit propped up in bed to do this work; but day after day I sat there, happy that my trembling fingers could do something to bring in a little pittance for the cause I loved so dearly."⁵

Since Robert Harmon soaked his material in a mercury-containing solution, as many hatters of that time-period did, it is nearly certain that Ellen came into contact with that material as she sat in her bed making crowns for the hats, and it is most likely she incurred some degree of mercury poisoning.

When mercury is upon any open surface it can continually leak toxic fumes into the environment, causing health problems for those who breathe it. Ellen was at risk of breathing these fumes from the hats her father produced and from his hat-making materials and equipment. To put the extreme danger of mercury toxicity into perspective, when a thermometer breaks and a tiny amount of mercury leaks out, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency advises parents to keep children away from the spill, and to throw away all garments that come into contact with the mercury.⁶

Young Ellen Exhibits Symptoms of Mercury Poisoning

When Ellen was but a young girl she endured an astounding list of health problems that correlate to a profound degree with known mercury poisoning symptoms. The following list of symptoms is taken from her own biography wherein she recollects events during her teen-age years:

Trembling hands: Mrs. White recollects that she had "trembling fingers" when she worked on her father's hats. According to scientists, "the earliest and most frequent symptom" of mercury poisoning "is a fine tremor (shaking) of the hand."⁷ The trembling was so intense that it interfered with her ability to complete her school work: "My nervous system was prostrated, and my hand trembled so that I made but little progress in writing..."⁸
Concentration and attention problems: One of the initial signs of mercury poisoning is difficulty in concentrating. Ellen said she found it difficult to attend school, admitting "it seemed impossible for me to study and to retain what I learned."⁹ However, she blamed the cause of this problem on her head injury.
Dizziness: Another sign of mercury poisoning is "dizziness/acute, chronic vertigo".¹⁰ Mrs. White recollects that, as a young girl, when she attempted to study, "dizziness would seize me."¹¹
Coughing: A variety of repiratory problems are caused by inhaling mercury fumes, and "symptoms usually begin with cough..."¹² Mrs. White laments that she was uable to study because "I had a bad cough, and my whole system seemed debilitated."¹³
Anxiety: Young Ellen seemed to struggle with anxiety. When she first heard of the return of Christ, she "was seized with terror" and "could scarcely sleep for several nights".¹⁴ One can only sympathize with the terror she experienced:
"My sufferings of mind were intense. Sometimes for a whole night I would not dare to close my eyes, but would wait until my twin sister was fast asleep, then quietly leave my bed and kneel upon the floor, praying silently, with a dumb agony that cannot be described. The horrors of an eternally burning hell were ever before me."¹⁵
Depression: Ellen writes of her teen-age struggles with depression: "A terrible sadness rested on my heart. I could not think of anything I had done to cause me to feel sad...I wandered needlessly in darkness and despair..."¹⁶
Weakness: As noted in the quote above, Ellen's heart was so "weak" she worked on the hats from her bed. When called upon to travel, she laments: "I felt too weak and despondent to make any special effort for myself..."¹⁷
Fainting: Another sign of mercury poisoning is "fainting spells."¹⁸ When attempting to study her schoolwork, she complained of "faintness."¹⁹
Speech Impairment: This usually takes the form of slurred speech. Mrs. White writes of being "struck dumb", unable to speak for a day, but she attributed this manifestation to the power of God.²⁰

Older Ellen Constantly Battling Mercury-Related Health Problems?

Researcher Max Chugg compiled a list of 17 health conditions Ellen White claims to have endured as an adult.²¹ While Mrs. White blamed some of these upon assaults from Satan, we will compare this list to a list of mercury-poisoning symptoms compiled by Dr. Hal Huggins and other scientists, to see if there is a more rational cause:

Ellen White's Complaint Mercury-Poisoning Symptom
Neuralgia of the nerves Nervous Disorders²²
Inflammatory rheumatism Rheumatoid arthritis²³
Malaria -
Bleeding of the lungs Lung damage²⁴
Oppressed lungs Asthma²⁵
Brain fever (Sciatica) Sciatica (Brain fever)²⁶
Hip and spine difficulties Painful joints, osteomyelitis²⁷
Kidney problems Chronic kidney disease, infection²⁸
Dropsical consumption Lung damage²⁹
Right lung decayed Lung damage³⁰
Left lung considerably diseased Lung damage³¹
Fainting fits Fainting spells³²
Dropsy Heart and kidney damage³³
Heart disease Heart problems, chest pains, angina, heart attack³⁴
Paralysis Paralysis³⁵
Swollen face and gums Swollen gums, swollen lymph nodes³⁶
Loose teeth Loosening of teeth³⁷

Other than Malaria, nearly every major health condition Mrs. White endured could have been triggered by mercury poisoning. There are many other minor complaints reported by Mrs. White that could be caused by a wide variety of factors, but could also be signs of mercury poisoning. For example, Mrs. White frequently complained of an inability to sleep. Insomnia is frequently cited as a symptom of mercury poisoning.³⁸

A Cause of the Visions?

One symptom sure to raise concern amongst Seventh-day Adventists is that mercury poisoning can trigger hallucinations:

"In severe cases, mercury poisoning can cause psychosis. Psychosis interferes with a person's thinking, emotions, memory, communication, behavior and interpretation of reality. When sufficiently impaired in all these areas that they can not meet the ordinary demands of life, a person is psychotic. Psychotic people often have very disorganized behavior which may be childlike or infantile, an inappropriate mood for the situation they are in, poor ability to control their impulses, speak in an incoherent jumble of words, and may have delusions and hallucinations (usually without an understanding of the fact that these are not real)."³⁹

It is unknown if Ellen White's mercury exposure was significant enough to have played a direct role in any of her visionary episodes, but as Dr. Numbers cautions, it is "unnecessary and unwise to assume that this malady would account for all of her unusual behavior."⁴⁰ Perhaps the cause of the visions was more indirectly related to mercury, as this quote from Dr. Andrew Cutler would suggest:

"Mercury can impair the brain's electrical regulation and cause epilepsy (either grand mal or petit mal varieties)."⁴¹

This would complement modern research which suggests Mrs. White may have been the victim of temporal lobe epilepsy. The mercury may have been a trigger for Mrs. White's epileptic-like seizures, which were interpretted by those around her as "visions" from God.

Conclusion

Unfortunately, there are no "typical" symptoms of mercury poisoning that could easily be used to classify Mrs. White's condition beyond all doubt. Effects vary considerably depending upon one's age, weight, rate of exposure, type of mercury, and route of exposure (inhalation, skin, etc.).⁴² However, since her father was a hatter who used mercury to prepare his hats, and since she assisted him, at least for a while, in his business, she was definitely at risk for exposure to the chemical. While many of the symptoms Mrs. White experienced could have had multiple causes, the sheer number of commonalities between her symptoms and mercury poisoning symptoms would suggest she had at least a mild exposure to mercury. This is sad and unfortunate and Mrs. White is deserving of our deepest sympathy. Furthermore, this could, in part, explain some of the unusual behavior exhibited by Mrs. White throughout her lifetime.

NOTES

1. Dennis William Hauck, Sorcerer's Stone: A beginner's Guide to Alchemy, p. 152.

2. D.P. Lyle, Forensics and Fiction, p. 111.

3. Arthur L. White, Ellen G. White: The Early Years Vol. 1 - 1827-1862 (1985), p. 22.

4. Ibid, p. 24.

5. Ellen White, Life Sketches of Ellen G. White (1915), p. 47.

6. "Spills, Disposals, and Site Cleanup", http://www.epa.gov/hg/spills/, extracted Nov. 9, 2009.

7. "Mercury Poisoning Symptoms", http://www.harrycroll.com/mercury/mercurypoisoningsymptoms.html, extracted Nov. 9, 2009.

8. Ellen White, Life Sketches of Ellen G. White (1915), p. 19.

9. Ellen White, Life Sketches of Ellen G. White (1915), p. 18.

10. "Symptoms of Chronic Mercury Poisoning", http://www.mercurypoisoned.com/symptoms.html, extracted Nov. 9, 2009.

11. Ellen White, Life Sketches of Ellen G. White (1915), p. 19.

12. "Mercury Poisoning Symptoms", http://www.harrycroll.com/mercury/mercurypoisoningsymptoms.html, extracted Nov. 9, 2009.

13. Ellen White, Life Sketches of Ellen G. White (1915), p. 19.

14. Ibid., p. 21.

15. Ibid., p. 32.

16. Ibid., p. 21.

17. Ibid., p. 71.

18. "Mercury Poisoning Symptoms", http://www.harrycroll.com/mercury/mercurypoisoningsymptoms.html, extracted Nov. 9, 2009.

19. Ellen White, Life Sketches of Ellen G. White (1915), p. 19.

20. Ibid., p. 89

21. Max Chugg, "The Ailing Health Instructor", http://www.nonsda.org/egw/egw74.shtml.

22. http://www.mercurypoisoned.com/symptoms.html, extracted Nov. 9, 2009.

23. http://www.mercurypoisoned.com/symptoms.html, extracted Nov. 9, 2009.

24. http://www.mercurypoisoned.com/symptoms.html, extracted Nov. 9, 2009.

25. http://www.mercurypoisoned.com/symptoms.html, extracted Nov. 9, 2009.

26. http://www.mercurypoisoningnews.com/effects.html, extracted Nov. 9, 2009.

27. http://www.mercurypoisoned.com/symptoms.html, extracted Nov. 9, 2009.

28. http://www.mercurypoisoned.com/symptoms.html, extracted Nov. 9, 2009.

29. http://www.mercurypoisoned.com/symptoms.html, extracted Nov. 9, 2009.

30. http://www.mercurypoisoned.com/symptoms.html, extracted Nov. 9, 2009.

31. http://www.mercurypoisoned.com/symptoms.html, extracted Nov. 9, 2009.

32. http://www.harrycroll.com/mercury/mercurypoisoningsymptoms.html, extracted Nov. 9, 2009.

33. http://www.mercurypoisoned.com/symptoms.html, extracted Nov. 9, 2009.

34. http://www.mercurypoisoned.com/symptoms.html, extracted Nov. 9, 2009.

35. http://www.mercury-poisoning-symptom.com/, extracted Nov. 9, 2009.

36. http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/002476.htm; http://www.mercurypoisoned.com/symptoms.html, extracted Nov. 9, 2009.

37. http://www.mercurypoisoned.com/symptoms.html, extracted Nov. 9, 2009.

38. http://www.mercurypoisoned.com/symptoms.html, extracted Nov. 9, 2009.

39. Andrew Hall Cutler, PhD, PE, Mercury Poisoning, http://www.noamalgam.com/hairtestbook_mercurytox.htm, extracted Nov. 9, 2009.

40. Ronald Numbers, PhD, Prophetess of Health, third edition, p. 47.

41. Andrew Hall Cutler, PhD, PE, Mercury Poisoning, http://www.noamalgam.com/hairtestbook_mercurytox.htm, extracted Nov. 9, 2009.

42. David Kirby, Evidence of Harm, p. 52.

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