Blood vs HTMA vs Urine vs Oligoscan: What is each test telling us and which is Superior?

By Jeff Lioon

TL;DR:

Blood Testing > Circulation

HTMA > Excretion

Urine > Excretion

Oligoscan > Accumulation (peripheral tissue - level 2)

The year is 2025. The Human race has accomplished many technological advancements. We can drill tunnels 12 km down into the earth, fly 20,000 airplanes across the world at any given moment, and have created AI models that can answer all of our questions in seconds. However, there is one query that we have yet to determine: how much Aluminum or Mercury is in our brain?

Currently there is no test that reveals the heavy metal accumulation or toxicity in the brain, the bones, or the organs, without taking a biopsy of that particular tissue. Some say we are still in the Dark Ages when it comes to this topic.

We can, however, better understand the current testing modalities and consider what they are telling us and why It matters.

When it comes to Heavy Metals & Minerals, I often get asked, what is the best test?

Blood Testing represents what is in circulation at a particular moment. Think, "The Transportation System of Nutrients". Heavy Metals come into the body via Food, Water, Air, Skin or Injection. Knowing that the body has an innate detoxification system (for a reason), it will excrete the metals out of the body. However, if the body is unable to eliminate the metals (due to several factors I.e compromised methylation pathways), it will instead push the metals to the fat tissue (storage). This is called Homeostasis- "to preserve life, the body will naturally push or dump toxins that enter the bloodstream immediately into the peripheral, fatty, and organ tissues. It does this to stabilize normal bodily functions."

Therefore, the amount of minerals and trace elements is kept fairly constant in the blood in a healthy Individual. If a person has high heavy metals in the blood, then likely there was a recent exposure (I.e Mercury Amalgam leaching) within the past 24-48 hours.

Hair Tissue Mineral Analysis (HTMA) represents what the person has excreted in the past 3 months via the epithelial tissue (hair). 90% of the human scalp hair is in the growth phase. During this time, elements from the follicular cells and their blood supply are

incorporated into hair. However, the more toxic metals that are incorporated into

organ cells, the less is excreted in hair (i.e Autistic Spectrum Disorder). If a person is a poor excreter, as seen with many individuals, especially with the chronically ill, the toxic elements may appear under-represented in hair tissue compared to the Oligoscan.

Dr. Rashid Buttar explains this concept in his Congressional testimony (2004)

“But Boyd Haley, who I'm sure you're familiar with, Boyd Haley had a very interesting study that came up where they compared normally developing children with children that had autism. And what they found was that children that had autism had no mercury in their hair, whereas children that were developing normally had very high levels of mercury. Why? Because these children can get rid of mercury. That's the whole point. The children that are autistic cannot get rid of it.”

The Hair is a minor elimination pathway for metals compared to the Liver, the Kidneys, the Intestines, and the Skin.

Urine Testing shows to what extent the body can excrete metals. In a normal sample, very little is excreted. When the body is provoked (e.g. EDTA, DMPS,

DMSA), increased metal concentrations are found (aka “challenge test”).

This is useful Information to test the excretion capability but please note- chelation agents do not penetrate cell membranes. They determine the amount of metals within the Extracellular space.

Which now brings us to Oligoscan, which utilizes Spectrophotometry, which is all about the absorption and reflection of light. Every Mineral & Metal is an Element. Every Element has a different color. This color Is determined by It's Atomic Emission Spectra.

We are shining the Full Visible Light Spectrum Into the hand tissue. Every beam of light is quantized (a certain amount of light) into photons, which you can count. As multiple

photons of light are projected, there is a consistent and measurable amount of frequencies, creating momentum. Since each Element has its own spectrum of color - (Atomic Emission Spectra), when the beam of light hits your skin and starts measuring, it has to penetrate at least 1 cell membrane, otherwise, it can not measure at all. When the light shines into the skin, the momentum changes, in which you can gather and calculate how much of the red/green/blue light was absorbed. The Cell Membrane is the key difference with the Oligoscan .

We use the hand for two reasons: the pigment is the same across all races and ethnicities, so it's standardized. Also, the hand is a major excretion point (hands, feet, scalp, underarm).

The Oligoscan is looking at the peripheral tissue of the hand. It is not looking at the brain, the bones, or the organs. Again, the only way to know this Information Is anayzing biopsied tissue, which for obvious reasons is not ideal. However, we can use the data to better understand absorption/accumulation or what Is going on at the intracellular level of the peripheral (level 2).

I highly recommend familiarizing yourself with Jeff Hoyt's 3 Levels of Detox

Level 1- Daily dose of toxins, what the body is able to eliminate

Level 2- Peripheral tissue, temporary holding space

Level 3 Deep Tissue, long term accumulation/ storage

In Summary: Blood is different than HTMA is different than Urine is different than Tissue (Oligoscan). One test is not better than another, rather, each test is looking at a completely different vector of the body. The most important aspect is to track the movement of metals and to understand In context of what we are measuring and what the movement represents. Here are a few points to consider:

• Did we or are we getting exposed daily or frequently from a common source in our daily life? I.e - Aluminum Cookware, Antiperspirant Deodorant

• Is the Toxicity from past, frequent exposure? I.e "Mercury Fillings for 30 years but I got them removed 5 years ago" > They were still in your mouth for 30 years

• Because of new detox strategies, is the test report "worse" because we are mobilizing metals from Level 3 to Level 2.

To your Health,

Jeff