Keeping the Environment Free of Dental Mercury
The next time you go for a routine teeth cleaning, ask your dentist if they’ve installed a mercury amalgam separator. Conventional dentists typically use amalgam fillings, which contains approximately 49% mercury--one of 12 EPA defined toxins that threatens the health of people and their environment. Dentists are the third largest users of mercury in the United States. As of 2000, the U.S. EPA lists more than 43,971 miles (covering 3,426,244 acres) of rivers and streams in the U.S. as “impaired” because of the presence of mercury.
In an effort to reduce pollution, the American Dental Association created a list called: Best Management Practices for Amalgam Waste in 2005. This framework defines eleven industry standards that reduce mercury waste in medical practice. As a result, many states, including California, now require the installation, use, and maintenance of an ISO-certified amalgam separator in all dental practices. Amalgam separators remove amalgam particles from dental wastewater through sedimentation, filtration or centrifugation, or a combination of these technologies.
Studies have shown that about 54% of the amalgam mixed for placement ends up as waste. Previous waste strategies of incineration and using infectious waste “red bags” to separate amalgams from other waste resulted in either contaminated ground or surface water, or an increase in air pollutants from volatilization.
The mandatory use of amalgam separators demonstrates an ecologically sustainable medical practice that serves patients, the practitioner, and the client. The Teleosis Institute’s Green Health Care Program guides health professionals to make sustainable choices in their practice that are Good for People and the Environment!
To learn more about mercury amalgam separators or Best Management Practices visit: American Dental Association at www.ada.org
Or
East Bay Municipal Utility District at www.ebmud.com
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