Ohio news conference continues momentum. In front of several TV cameras,
Representative Annie Key announces bill to ban mercury fillings for Ohio
children and pregnant women, making Ohio the 8th state to have such a bill.

State legislators across USA renew efforts against mercury fillings.
Assemblyman Dick Dickerson (R-Calif.) introduced a resolution against the
FDAregulation (see (3), below). Representative Johnny Rogers (D-Ala.)
promisesmajor action in 2003, as do Rep. Bob Holmes (D-Ga.), Reps. Karen
Johnson &Debra Brimhall (R-Ariz.), and Rep. Mary Flowers (D-Ill.) Sen. Mike
Michaud(D-Me.) and Rep. Hal Lynde (R-N.H.) passed their bills this year.

Dental Board Committee Chair Yokoyama proposes California recommend
nomercury fillings for children, pregnant women. The president of the new
California dental board, Dr. Alan Kay, appointed Dr.Chet Yokoyama, a
mercury-free dentist, to chair a committee to write a consumer-friendly
"fact
sheet" about the risks of mercury fillings. At the August meeting in San
Francisco, Dr. Yokoyama proposed that the Board recommend that children and
pregnant women not receive mercury fillings. He will hold hearings on this
issue in November in Los Angeles.

NAACP national conference endorses ban for children, pregnant women. In a
historic breakthrough, the annual convention of delegates of one of our
nation's oldest and most respected organizations endorsed the
Watson-Burtonbill, and called for a ban on mercury fillings for children,
pregnant women,and nursing mothers. Meanwhile, standing up to huge pressure
from organized dentistry, the National Black Caucus of State Legislators
stood
firm on its resolution supporting Watson-Burton. To witness the leadership
byAfrican-American organizations in pointing the way - certainly something
we have seen before in our recent history - is gratifying indeed.

Maine's Bill LD1409 "An Act To Address The Health Effects of
MercuryFillings"
will be formally signed on Thursday, August 23rd at 11:00 a.m. atthe
Governor's
office in Aususta Maine. The bill will require dentists toprovide patients
with
a brochure and to post a sign in the waiting room explaining that amalgams
contain mercury and the health risks involved.

It's being agrued in Florida also.

The New Hampshire Legislature passed one of the strongest bills so far, HB
1251

AN ACT relative to the use of mercury amalgam fillings by dentists.

This bill requires dentists and the department of health and human services
to
provide health information on restorative dental materials, and requires the
department of environmental services to adopt rules for the disposal of
mercury
amalgam waste in an environmentally-appropriate manner.

New York
Assemblyman Richard Brodsky (D-Westchester) introduced a broad-sweeping bill

which, if enacted, would alter the practice of dentistry in New York State.
The

legislation (A.4209), known as the Comprehensive Management of Waste Mercury

Act of 2001, would also ban thermometers, fluorescent lights and other
products

that contain mercury, in what the sponsor says is an effort to cut the
amount
of mercury

entering sewers, landfills and incinerators. Amalgam dental fillings have
been
found to
be a major source of mercury in sewers from human waste in household and
office

sewer systems, and thermometers, thermostats, and fluorescent lights are
major
sources

entering landfills. A Senate version of the bill is expected to be
introduced
by

Senator Michael Balboni (R/C-Nassau).

Measures similar to A.4209 are being considered in Connecticut, Maine,
Florida,

Maryland, Massachusetts, Maine, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Oregon

and Rhode Island, and indeed, the bill is modeled on a law Vermont passed in
1998.

LL/Jan