EPA Proposes Standards to Reduce Mercury Discharges from Dental Offices

"The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) today proposed standards under the Clean Water Act to help cut discharges of dental amalgam to the environment. Amalgam is a mixture of mercury and other metals that dentists use to fill cavities. Mercury is discharged when dentists remove old fillings or remove excess amalgam when placing a new filling.

Studies show about half the mercury that enters Publicly Owned Treatment Works (POTWs) comes from dental offices. Mercury from amalgam can then make its way into the environment in a number of ways, including through discharge to water bodies. Contact with some microorganisms can help create methylmercury, a highly toxic form of mercury that builds up in fish, shellfish and fish-eating animals. Fish and shellfish are the main sources of human exposure to methylmercury..."

Mercuty discharges from dental offices

Mercury Levels in Women of Childbearing Age Drop 34 Percent

"Today the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released a study showing that blood mercury levels in women of childbearing age dropped 34 percent from a survey conducted in 1999-2000 to follow-up surveys conducted from 2001 to 2010. Additionally, the percentage of women of childbearing age with blood mercury levels above the level of concern decreased 65 percent from the 1999-2000 survey and the follow-up surveys from 2001-2010..."
Mercury

EPA FACT SHEET: Mercury and Air Toxics Standard

"On December 16, 2011, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) finalized the first national Clean Air Act standards to reduce mercury and other toxic air pollution from coal and oil‐fired power plants. The science shows that mercury and toxic air pollution is a threat to public health and has real impacts on people’s lives. This fact sheet provides an overview of the benefits and highlights key impacts..."  

Study Reveals Mercury Contamination in Fish Nationwide
"Scientists detected mercury contamination in every fish sampled in 291 streams across the country, according to a U.S. Geological Survey study released today.

About a quarter of these fish were found to contain mercury at levels exceeding the criterion for the protection of people who consume average amounts of fish, established by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. More than two-thirds of the fish exceeded the U.S. EPA level of concern for fish-eating mammals.

“This study shows just how widespread mercury pollution has become in our air, watersheds, and many of our fish in freshwater streams,” said Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar. “This science sends a clear message that our country must continue to confront pollution, restore our nation’s waterways, and protect the public from potential health dangers.”

Some of the highest levels of mercury in fish were found in the tea-colored or “blackwater” streams in North and South Carolina, Georgia, Florida and Louisiana — areas associated with relatively undeveloped forested watersheds containing abundant wetlands compared to the rest of the country. High levels of mercury in fish also were found in relatively undeveloped watersheds in the Northeast and the Upper Midwest. Elevated levels are noted in areas of the Western United States affected by mining. Complete findings of the USGS report, as well as additional detailed studies in selected streams, are available online..."

Landmark U.S. Geological Survey Study Demonstrates How Methylmercury, Known to Contaminate Seafood, Originates in the Ocean
"A new landmark study published today documents for the first time the process in which increased mercury emissions from human sources across the globe, and in particular from Asia, make their way into the North Pacific Ocean and as a result contaminate tuna and other seafood. Because much of the mercury that enters the North Pacific comes from the atmosphere, scientists have predicted an additional 50 percent increase in mercury in the Pacific by 2050 if mercury emission rates continue as projected..."

A Review of Events that Expose Children to Elemental Mercury in the United States
"Concern for children exposed to elemental mercury prompted the Agency for Toxic
Substances and Disease Registry and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to
review the sources of elemental mercury exposures in children, describe the location and proportion of children affected, and make recommendations on how to prevent these
exposures. The review excluded mercury exposures from coal-burning facilities, dental
amalgams, fish consumption, medical waste incinerators, or thimerosal-containing vaccines."