It's legal to put mercury into people's mouth

It's legal to put mercury into people's mouths - but look at this: (from the Bolen Report)

New Hampshire Clean Water Action has given the state a grade of D-plus for not doing enough to prevent mercury pollution from dental fillings.

The environmental organization issued a report ranking New Hampshire as only above Vermont among New England states in addressing this contamination.

Doug Bogen, program director for Clean Water Action, said the state took the lead in passing laws to address the problem, but the reforms have not been carried out.

Bogen said the key thing is to prevent the contamination from getting into the waste stream and into Portsmouth Harbour or sludge that ends up in a landfill. He added landfills are places where mercury is converted into the more toxic form methyl mercury.

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"Follow the money" - -when enough health-conscious people stop going to DDSs who put mercury in patients' mouths, we'll see a change in their "professionsl" attitude. In our practice, we went mercury-free in 1968. Wouldn't it be great if N.H. made it illegal for DDSs to put this neurotoxin into people's mouths!

Jerry Mittelman, DDS, FAPM (Retired)