Biggest Polluters-Mercury-Dentists Options

Repost for Robert.

http://www.toxicteeth.org/pressRoom_..._polluters.cfm


THE NATION
Dentists Biggest Mercury Polluters, New Study Finds
Health: The metal is widely used in fillings and ends up in the nation's
waste
water.


By ELIZABETH SHOGREN
TIMES STAFF WRITER June 6, 2002 WASHINGTON - Coal-fired power plants are
notorious for being the biggest source of mercury pollution in the air. But
now, new attention is being directed at another, much less known source of
mercury contamination in water--dentists. A new report shows that dentists
are
the largest single source of mercury pollution in waste water funneled into
the
nation's treatment plants. Mercury is a potent toxin that can damage the
human
brain, spinal cord, kidney and liver, and is especially dangerous for unborn
children. While many other sources of mercury pollution have drastically cut
their use of the heavy metal, dentists continue to use it widely in
fillings.
"Pretty much all the mercury they're using gets released into the
environment.
Why aren't they doing more to reduce that use?" said Michael Bender,
director
of the Mercury Policy Project, a foundation-funded group that was one of the
authors of the study. Power plants emit mercury into the air and it falls
into
streams and rivers. Many dentists flush it down their drains and it goes
directly into waste-water treatment plants, which do not effectively filter
it
from the water. In a statement responding to the report, the American Dental
Assn. said it was aware that some particles from fillings end up in waste
water, and it urges dentists to follow proper procedures for handling and
recycling the composite used for fillings, which they refer to as "amalgam."
But the association argued that the mercury from their fillings remains in a
form that is not harmful to humans. "However, a 1996 study found that when
amalgam particles were subjected to simulated waste-water treatment
processes,
no soluble mercury was detected, even at a concentration of 1 part per
billion," according to the statement. The group stressed that it was
currently
implementing a new plan to address the problem. The new report's authors
said
that dentists, through voluntary or mandatory measures, should trap their
waste
mercury before it flows into plumbing fixtures that have been contaminated
with
mercury for years. The report referred to a 2001 study by the Assn. of
Metropolitan Sewerage Agencies that evaluated seven major municipal
waste-water
treatment plants and determined that dental uses were "by far" the greatest
contributors to the mercury reaching their facilities. They were responsible
for 40% of the load, three times more than the next largest contributor.
Several other countries regulate releases of dental mercury. In Canada, a
new
standard requires dentists to trap the pieces of filling before they go down
the drain. The goal is to reduce releases by 95% by 2005. In May, the New
Hampshire Legislature became the first in the nation to pass legislation
governing disposal methods for dental mercury. The California Assembly
considered a measure to phase out the use of mercury in fillings but did not
adopt it. The report suggests that mercury in dentistry has become the
exception while other major users of mercury have changed their practices.
In
1985 dental facilities used 3% of all the mercury used nationwide. Last
year,
although dentists used less mercury, their use accounted for 20% of all
uses.
Only two other industries--wiring devices and switches and chloralkali--used
more. Gina Solomon, a physician who focuses on the health effects of mercury
for the Natural Resources Defense Council, said that there was still
controversy about whether the fillings put dental patients at risk. And she
stressed that those who have such fillings should not get them removed,
because
taking them out heightens the chance of exposure. However, she said the
science
is clear that the mercury that goes down the drain can end up in the food
chain. "There is scientific consensus that mercury that ends up in the waste
water and water bodies will accumulate in the fish and pose a direct human
health problem to people who eat the fish; that is uncontroversial and is
something that can be fixed," Solomon said. If you want other stories on
this
topic, search the Archives at www.latimes.com/archive.