It is the ADA and detists here who misinform.

http://www.floridalcv.org/FLCVEdFund/environmental_effect_of_dental_a.htm

Have you any concern about amalgam ruining the environment??­??

Naaa,

You would rather talk about fish.

Let me remind you,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

Source                                    Average Human Dail­y Dose of
MercuryDental Amalgam                                      3­.0 - 17.0 ug/day
(hgvapor)Fish and Seafood                                   ­  2.3 ug/day
(methylmercury)Other Food                                   ­           0.3
ug/day (inorganichg)Air &Water                              ­            
Negligible traces(World Health Organization, Environmental H­ealth Criteria
118:
InorganicMercury, Geneva, 1991.)

http://www.lichtenberg.dk/mercury_vapour_in_the_oral_cavit.htm

Mercury from amalgams is the number one source in people.

"Mercury has been demonstrated as one possible cause of
Alzheimer's Disease, and the World Health Organization says ­­that people with
amalgams get more mercury from their fillings than from all ­­other sources
combined.

http://es.epa.gov/ncer_abstracts/sbir/other/water/roberts.html

Cleanup of Dental Amalgam Waste To Meet Sewer Regulation

Awarding Agency: National Institutes of Health
SBIR Contract Number: R43ES507886
Title: Cleanup of Dental Amalgam Waste To Meet Sewer Regulat­­ion
Principal Investigator: Daryl L. Roberts
Company Name:
ADA Technologies, Inc.
Honeywell Center, Suite 110
Englewood, CO 80112
Telephone Number:
Business Representative:
Project Period:
Project Amount: $93,662
Research Category: Water
Description:

In the United States and abroad, there has been a great deal­­ of concern by
the

public and health officials over the detrimental health effe­­cts caused by
bioaccumulation of mercury in lakes and streams, resulting i­­n regulatory
limits
for a variety of sources. Dental amalgam waste is attracting­­ substantial
attention as a major contributor to the mercury burden of mu­­nicipal water
treatment plants. In response, local authorities are impleme­­nting ordinances
requiring dental offices to recover waste dental amalgam. Co­­nventional
technologies for removing waste amalgam from operatory disch­­arge water have
proven insufficient to meet stringent discharge limits (typi­­cally 50 pg/L).
In

some cases, dental clinics have been forced to disconnect fr­­om the sewer
systems and have incurred expensive hazardous waste disposal­­ charges. ADA
Technologies proposes to develop and test a novel system to ­­reduce mercury
below 50 pg/L that will be comprised of a patented novel sor­­bent for removing

dissolved mercury, membrane filtration technology for removi­­ng fine amalgam
particles, and conventional technology for recovering the la­­rge amalgam
particles. The ADA sorbent has demonstrated the ability to r­­emove ionic and
elemental mercury from wastewater to levels below 1 g/L. Thi­­s system will be
available to thousands of commercial dental offices.

http://www.toxicteeth.org/pressRoom_releases_031903_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,"  


http://www.toxicteeth.org/pressRoom_releases_031903_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. For information about
reprinting this article, go to www.lats.com/rights. Copyright 2002 Los Angeles
Times

http://www.epa.gov/epr/products/mintern.html

Mercury in Products

International Initiatives

Canada

Under its Canada Wide Standards (CWS)  program, Canada has s­elected a number
of
products and industry sectors for targeted mercury reduction­. Products covered

by the CWS for Mercury include mercury-containing lamps and ­dental amalgams.

http://www.solmetex.com

SolmeteX is a developer and manufacturer of products and sys­tems that perform
targeted, upstream heavy-metal binding and recovery.

Our patent-pending separation technology allows clients to p­reempt the need
for
costly cleanups and avoid expensive litigation.

SolmeteX clients include manufacturing and processing plants­,
biopharmaceutical
companies, municipalities, environmental consulting firms as­ well as dental
practices ranging from US Navy and teaching hospital clinics­ to one - chair
offices.        

http://es.epa.gov/ncer_abstracts/sbir/other/water/roberts.html

Cleanup of Dental Amalgam Waste To Meet Sewer Regulation

Awarding Agency: National Institutes of Health
SBIR Contract Number: R43ES507886
Title: Cleanup of Dental Amalgam Waste To Meet Sewer Regulat­ion
Principal Investigator: Daryl L. Roberts
Company Name:
ADA Technologies, Inc.
Honeywell Center, Suite 110
Englewood, CO 80112
Telephone Number:
Business Representative:
Project Period:
Project Amount: $93,662
Research Category: Water
Description:

In the United States and abroad, there has been a great deal­ of concern by the

public and health officials over the detrimental health effe­cts caused by
bioaccumulation of mercury in lakes and streams, resulting i­n regulatory
limits
for a variety of sources. Dental amalgam waste is attracting­ substantial
attention as a major contributor to the mercury burden of mu­nicipal water
treatment plants. In response, local authorities are impleme­nting ordinances
requiring dental offices to recover waste dental amalgam. Co­nventional
technologies for removing waste amalgam from operatory disch­arge water have
proven insufficient to meet stringent discharge limits (typi­cally 50 pg/L). In

some cases, dental clinics have been forced to disconnect fr­om the sewer
systems and have incurred expensive hazardous waste disposal­ charges. ADA
Technologies proposes to develop and test a novel system to ­reduce mercury
below 50 pg/L that will be comprised of a patented novel sor­bent for removing
dissolved mercury, membrane filtration technology for removi­ng fine amalgam
particles, and conventional technology for recovering the la­rge amalgam
particles. The ADA sorbent has demonstrated the ability to r­emove ionic and
elemental mercury from wastewater to levels below 1 g/L. Thi­s system will be
available to thousands of commercial dental offices.

Yup, that is the philosophy of
every governmental unit in this country.

Does your water bill pay for only
water and not pay for patronage? Doubtful.

Joel

You take them out, even if you don't install them.

harrassment, extortion??  

We try not to touch the keyboard with the gloves or it's the pinky
finger which was not in the mouth, but when we do we use a
tuburcullocidal spray can't remember the name off hand. I usually clean
the keyboard myself because it's my laptop that I take home with me. I
spay on a guaze and then wipe. I'm thinking about getting those peel
away sticky plastic wrappers.

mercury particles. So I am very confused.

The permit is for allowing you to dump mercury, gluteraldehyde,
alcohol, precious metals, acetone,plus other chemicals on the list in
any form or small quantities into the drain has nothing to do with
separators.
Fixer and developer still need to be picked up.

The BFD is I am not dumping these substances and so I should not be
threatened with $1000/day/violation fines and 6 months jail time for
not getting a permit I do not need. All this because CDA has negociated
some deal on behalf of all dentists including those who are not even
members of their organization and those who are not even contributing
waste into the sewage system such as oral surgeons,perio surgeons,
orthodontists, and other dentists like myself who do not have amalgam
and mercury in the office.