There was an interesting – and troubling – study some years ago which found that after 20 years, your average mercury amalgam “silver” filling can lose up to 95% of its mercury content. While the lead author assured that “what’s left is in a form unlikely to be toxic in the body,” he and his […]
Mercury
From the Archives: Handling Mercury Amalgam Is No Laughing Matter
Updated from the April 23, 2016 original post Surprisingly, there hasn’t been a ton of research on dental workers’ exposure to mercury – perhaps because the party line is that mercury amalgam is “safe.” Of course, the American Dental Association’s “Dental Mercury Hygiene Recommendations” belie this, urging caution at all points in the process of […]
Mercury in the Air
Sometimes, you can hear a lot by listening to what’s not being said. Consider last month’s CDC report about a peculiar cluster of cases of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF). This chronic lung disease is characterized by extensive scarring of the lung tissue and gradually deteriorating lung function. Of the nine patients in the cluster, all […]
Getting Rid of Dental Mercury: A Lot of Progress, a Long Way Yet to Go
It’s not a headline to be proud of, but it is a headline that should motivate more of us into action: Just how far behind are we? The 28-member European Union (EU), with an estimated population of over 510 million people, recently announced its decision to ban amalgam use in children under age 15, pregnant […]
The Amalgam Separator Saga: The New EPA Rule In, Out, and In Once Again
On his first day in office, President Trump signed an order that froze all regulatory processes. All new EPA rules that had not yet been published in the Federal Register were rolled back. The amalgam separator rule was one of the casualties. The National Resources Defense Council quickly filed suit, contending that “EPA broke the […]
Modern Mercury Fillings Release Even More Mercury Than the Old Kind
Although about half of all American dentists no longer place mercury amalgam “silver” fillings, that still leaves about 100,000 who do – most of whom are using high copper amalgam. Why high copper? “Experts” will tell you that fillings made with the material are stronger, look brighter, resist corrosion better, creep (slowly change shape) less, […]
Amalgam Separators: No Longer Optional
We ended 2016 with some great news from the EU – their partial ban of mercury amalgam. So how about we start 2017 with some great news from right here in the US? In December, the EPA finalized its amalgam separator rule. It goes into effect 30 days after it gets published in the Federal […]
A Christmas Present for the Children of Europe: No More Mercury
The children of Europe got an early Christmas this year: a ban on mercury amalgam fillings in youth under 16, as well as in pregnant and breastfeeding women. This landmark agreement was reached at a summit of the three E.U. institutions (Parliament, Commission, and Council) on December 6 and 7. Its other provisions include a […]