July 31, 2005—The Pennsylvania Dental Association has partnered with the state Department of Environmental Protection to review voluntary best-management practices for mercury-bearing amalgam wastes and to collect obsolete supplies of elemental mercury for recycling, thus preventing the material from entering the environment.
The program, part of the DEP’s comprehensive Mercury Reduction Initiative, is being launched as a three-month trial in 16 eastern Pennsylvania counties before being implemented on a statewide basis.
Dentistry switched from elemental mercury to amalgam capsules about 25 years ago, explains the PDA. Previously, dentists mixed the amalgam for fillings using elemental mercury. PDA has identified approximately 1,062 pounds of excess elemental mercury stored in dental offices statewide that is ready to be recycled.
Although use of elemental mercury has become obsolete, mercury compounds still make up approximately 50% of the amalgam used in dental offices for fillings, says the PDA. Amalgam particles are a potential source of mercury not only in wastewater, but also in groundwater, streams, and rivers. While the amount of mercury discharged by dental practices is unknown, methylmercury, a form of mercury that has undergone biological processes, has been well established as a neurotoxin.
For more information, visit the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection.
