DEP Partners with Pennsylvania dental association to reduce mercury discharge
COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA
Dept. of Environmental Protection
Commonwealth News Bureau
Room 308, Main Capitol Building
Harrisburg, PA 17120
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
7/21/2005
CONTACT:
Charlie Young
Phone: (717) 787-1323
DEP PARTNERS WITH PENNSYLVANIA DENTAL ASSOCIATION TO REDUCE MERCURY DISCHARGES
Pollution Prevention Protects Public Health, Environment
HARRISBURG: Environmental Protection Sec. Kathleen A. McGinty today announced the department has launched a new partnership with Pennsylvania dentists to review voluntary best-management practices for mercury-bearing amalgam wastes and collect obsolete supplies of elemental mercury to prevent the material from entering the environment.
“This marks a major accomplishment in efforts to ensure a cleaner, healthier environment in Pennsylvania,” McGinty said. “I applaud the dentists who have stepped up to work with DEP to tackle this public health and environmental concern. Removing elemental mercury and gathering data on dentists’ wastewater management practices will help us improve water quality and ensure public health in Pennsylvania.”
McGinty signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Pennsylvania Dental Association Chief Executive Officer Camille Kostelac-Cherry to implement a two-pronged approach to reduce mercury discharges from dental offices.
Together, the agencies will collect stored elemental mercury from dental offices statewide for recycling and conduct a review of the voluntary use of best-management practices for reducing amalgam wastes in dental offices. The program is being launched as a three-month trial in 16 eastern Pennsylvania counties before being implemented on a statewide basis.
In January 2004, DEP kicked off its Mercury Reduction Initiative, a comprehensive strategy to reduce mercury in the environment. Two components of the initiative apply to dental offices: collection of elemental mercury and best management practices for mercury-bearing amalgam wastes.
Dentistry switched from elemental mercury to amalgam capsules about 25 years ago. Previously, dentists mixed the amalgam for fillings using elemental mercury. As a result, many dental offices still have containers of excess elemental mercury stored in their offices. Through surveys conducted in 2001 and 2004, PDA has identified approximately 1,062 pounds of elemental mercury ready for collection from dental offices across the state.
Although use of elemental mercury has become obsolete, mercury compounds still are commonly used in dental practices. Mercury makes up approximately 50 percent of the amalgam used in dental offices for fillings. Amalgam particles are a potential source of mercury not only in wastewater, but also in groundwater, streams and rivers. Pennsylvania has approximately 8,000 dentists discharging to about 920 publicly owned water treatment works.
Currently, there is little hard data in Pennsylvania to determine the amount of mercury being discharged from dental offices, and the results of national studies are so variable as to be inconclusive. One study found that 60 percent of mercury in water treatment works comes from dental practices, while a study conducted by the U.S. Navy determined that only 0.006 percent of mercury leaches out of dental amalgam particulate into the wastewater stream.
While the amount of mercury discharged by dental practices is unknown, the threat of mercury contamination is understood. Methylmercury, a form of mercury that has undergone biological processes, has been well established as a neurotoxin, and chronic low-dose prenatal exposure has been associated with poor performance on neurobehavioral tests in children, including those tests that measure attention, visual-spatial ability, verbal memory, language ability, fine motor skills and intelligence. At high doses, mercury exposure can cause tremors, inability to walk, convulsions and even death.
Mercury most endangers pregnant women, children, subsistence fishermen and recreational anglers.
Beyond its dangers to public health, the accumulation of methylmercury in fish also threatens Pennsylvania’s economy. Some 2 million people fish in Pennsylvania each year, including about 500,000 youth under 16. More than 18 million fishing trips take place in the commonwealth annually. All that activity generates $1.6 billion for the state's economy, supports 15,000 jobs and brings in more than $50 million in state sales and income taxes.
The review of amalgam waste best-management practices will allow DEP to ascertain the number and percentage of dental facilities voluntarily implementing these practices. The data will be used as a basis to determine whether future regulatory action is warranted to reduce the amount of mercury entering the environment through wastewater discharges.
In addition to this action with the Pennsylvania Dental Association, the Rendell administration is calling for tougher national mercury rules. In March, Pennsylvania filed a petition challenging the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s rollback of standards to regulate mercury emissions from coal- and oil-fired power plants as a hazardous air pollutant.
DEP currently is considering a petition for rulemaking to regulate mercury in Pennsylvania. The department expects to report back to the state Environmental Quality Board at an upcoming meeting this summer.
Additionally, DEP launched the Pennsylvania Mercury Automobile Switch Removal Program last November. This voluntary program is expected to recycle 600 pounds of mercury over the next two years from vehicles that are no longer useable.
For more information, visit DEP’s Web site at www.dep.state.pa.us.
Dept. of Environmental Protection
Commonwealth News Bureau
Room 308, Main Capitol Building
Harrisburg, PA 17120
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
7/21/2005
CONTACT:
Charlie Young
Phone: (717) 787-1323
DEP PARTNERS WITH PENNSYLVANIA DENTAL ASSOCIATION TO REDUCE MERCURY DISCHARGES
Pollution Prevention Protects Public Health, Environment
HARRISBURG: Environmental Protection Sec. Kathleen A. McGinty today announced the department has launched a new partnership with Pennsylvania dentists to review voluntary best-management practices for mercury-bearing amalgam wastes and collect obsolete supplies of elemental mercury to prevent the material from entering the environment.
“This marks a major accomplishment in efforts to ensure a cleaner, healthier environment in Pennsylvania,” McGinty said. “I applaud the dentists who have stepped up to work with DEP to tackle this public health and environmental concern. Removing elemental mercury and gathering data on dentists’ wastewater management practices will help us improve water quality and ensure public health in Pennsylvania.”
McGinty signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Pennsylvania Dental Association Chief Executive Officer Camille Kostelac-Cherry to implement a two-pronged approach to reduce mercury discharges from dental offices.
Together, the agencies will collect stored elemental mercury from dental offices statewide for recycling and conduct a review of the voluntary use of best-management practices for reducing amalgam wastes in dental offices. The program is being launched as a three-month trial in 16 eastern Pennsylvania counties before being implemented on a statewide basis.
In January 2004, DEP kicked off its Mercury Reduction Initiative, a comprehensive strategy to reduce mercury in the environment. Two components of the initiative apply to dental offices: collection of elemental mercury and best management practices for mercury-bearing amalgam wastes.
Dentistry switched from elemental mercury to amalgam capsules about 25 years ago. Previously, dentists mixed the amalgam for fillings using elemental mercury. As a result, many dental offices still have containers of excess elemental mercury stored in their offices. Through surveys conducted in 2001 and 2004, PDA has identified approximately 1,062 pounds of elemental mercury ready for collection from dental offices across the state.
Although use of elemental mercury has become obsolete, mercury compounds still are commonly used in dental practices. Mercury makes up approximately 50 percent of the amalgam used in dental offices for fillings. Amalgam particles are a potential source of mercury not only in wastewater, but also in groundwater, streams and rivers. Pennsylvania has approximately 8,000 dentists discharging to about 920 publicly owned water treatment works.
Currently, there is little hard data in Pennsylvania to determine the amount of mercury being discharged from dental offices, and the results of national studies are so variable as to be inconclusive. One study found that 60 percent of mercury in water treatment works comes from dental practices, while a study conducted by the U.S. Navy determined that only 0.006 percent of mercury leaches out of dental amalgam particulate into the wastewater stream.
While the amount of mercury discharged by dental practices is unknown, the threat of mercury contamination is understood. Methylmercury, a form of mercury that has undergone biological processes, has been well established as a neurotoxin, and chronic low-dose prenatal exposure has been associated with poor performance on neurobehavioral tests in children, including those tests that measure attention, visual-spatial ability, verbal memory, language ability, fine motor skills and intelligence. At high doses, mercury exposure can cause tremors, inability to walk, convulsions and even death.
Mercury most endangers pregnant women, children, subsistence fishermen and recreational anglers.
Beyond its dangers to public health, the accumulation of methylmercury in fish also threatens Pennsylvania’s economy. Some 2 million people fish in Pennsylvania each year, including about 500,000 youth under 16. More than 18 million fishing trips take place in the commonwealth annually. All that activity generates $1.6 billion for the state's economy, supports 15,000 jobs and brings in more than $50 million in state sales and income taxes.
The review of amalgam waste best-management practices will allow DEP to ascertain the number and percentage of dental facilities voluntarily implementing these practices. The data will be used as a basis to determine whether future regulatory action is warranted to reduce the amount of mercury entering the environment through wastewater discharges.
In addition to this action with the Pennsylvania Dental Association, the Rendell administration is calling for tougher national mercury rules. In March, Pennsylvania filed a petition challenging the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s rollback of standards to regulate mercury emissions from coal- and oil-fired power plants as a hazardous air pollutant.
DEP currently is considering a petition for rulemaking to regulate mercury in Pennsylvania. The department expects to report back to the state Environmental Quality Board at an upcoming meeting this summer.
Additionally, DEP launched the Pennsylvania Mercury Automobile Switch Removal Program last November. This voluntary program is expected to recycle 600 pounds of mercury over the next two years from vehicles that are no longer useable.
For more information, visit DEP’s Web site at www.dep.state.pa.us.
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