{"id":2017,"date":"2017-09-27T12:18:32","date_gmt":"2017-09-27T06:18:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/esdo.org\/?p=2017"},"modified":"2017-09-27T12:18:32","modified_gmt":"2017-09-27T06:18:32","slug":"celebrate-world-environmental-health-day-by-making-dental-amalgam-history","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/esdo.org\/old\/celebrate-world-environmental-health-day-by-making-dental-amalgam-history\/","title":{"rendered":"Celebrate \u201cWorld Environmental Health Day\u201d by Making Dental Amalgam History!"},"content":{"rendered":"

Geneva, 26 September 2017<\/strong> \u2013The World Alliance for Mercury-Free Dentistry is celebrating World Environmental Health Day by urging the nations party to the Minamata Convention on Mercury to make dental amalgam history<\/em>!\u00a0\u00a0 It complements the theme of the parties to Minamata, whose theme is \u201cMake mercury history.\u201d<\/p>\n

At the first conference of the parties (COP1), the World Alliance launched its new \u201cMake Dental Amalgam History\u201d campaign, a step-by-step plan to phase out the use of dental amalgam.<\/p>\n

In its opening statement, presented by president Charlie Brown of the United States, the World Alliance specifically called on nations to take the first step:<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you return to your home nations, please do as the European Union as done: phase out amalgam for children now.\u00a0 For one simple reason:\u00a0 The children of your nation are equally important to the children of Europe.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dominique Bally of Cote d\u2019Ivoire, the World Alliance\u2019s vice president for Africa, reports that \u201cThe African region is ready to end amalgam use in children, but developed countries continue to dump amalgam into our region.\u00a0 Sending amalgam for use in African children (and others vulnerable population) is not charity \u2013 it\u2019s an environmental health disaster.\u201d<\/p>\n

As Dr. Graeme Munro-Hall of the United Kingdom, the World Alliance\u2019s chief dental advisor explains, \u201cThere is just no reason to use amalgam in children\u2019s milk teeth \u2013 these teeth are less complex, they don\u2019t last long, and there are so many mercury-free fillings available for them.\u201d<\/p>\n

Maria Carcamo of Uruguay, the World Alliance\u2019s vice president for Latin America, adds \u201cNo child should be subjected to an utterly unnecessary dose of mercury exposure from amalgam.\u201d<\/p>\n

The African nation of Mauritius has a policy of no amalgam for children.<\/a>[i]<\/a>\u00a0 The European Union, with 28 member nations, bans amalgam as of 1 July 2018 for children, and for pregnant and nursing women.<\/a>[ii]<\/sup><\/a>\u00a0 The Scandinavian nations go much further, effectively having ended amalgam use.<\/a>[iii]<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cMany children in developed countries are being protected from amalgam,\u201d says Dr. Shahriar Hossain of Bangladesh, the World Alliance\u2019s executive vice president.\u00a0 \u201cNow it is time to protect all children from the dental industry\u2019s mercury, including children in developing countries, children in low-income areas of developed countries, and indigenous peoples\u2019 children.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dental amalgam, a tooth filling material that is 50% mercury, accounts for 21% of global mercury consumption.<\/a>[iv]<\/a> Much of this dental mercury eventually enters the environment via many unsound pathways, polluting (1) air via cremation, dental clinic emissions, and sludge incineration; (2) water via dental clinic releases and human waste; and (3) soil via landfills, burials, and fertilizer.<\/a>[v]<\/a>\u00a0 As a result, many children around the world are exposed to a double dose of amalgam\u2019s mercury: first when it is implanted in their teeth and a second time when it contaminates their environment.<\/p>\n

For more information, contact Charles G. Brown at charlie@mercury-free.org<\/a> or 202-544-6333.<\/p>\n

<\/a>[i]<\/a>Inventory of Mercury Releases in Mauritania <\/em>(2014), p. 19<\/p>\n

<\/a>[ii]<\/a>European Parliament legislative resolution (14 March 2017)<\/p>\n

<\/a>[iii]<\/a> World Health Organization, Future Use of Materials for Dental Restoration<\/em> (2011), p.21<\/p>\n

<\/a>[iv]<\/a> UNEP\/AMAP, Technical Background Report to the Global Atmospheric Mercury Assessment<\/em> (2013), p.103.<\/p>\n

<\/a>[v]<\/a>Concorde East West, The Real Cost of Dental Mercury<\/em> (March 2012)<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Geneva, 26 September 2017 \u2013The World Alliance for Mercury-Free Dentistry is celebrating World Environmental Health Day by urging the nations party to the Minamata Convention on Mercury to make dental amalgam history!\u00a0\u00a0 It complements the theme of the parties to Minamata, whose theme is \u201cMake mercury history.\u201d At the first conference of the parties (COP1), […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2018,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11,12],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2017","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-ag_newsroom","category-press_release"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/esdo.org\/old\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2017","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/esdo.org\/old\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/esdo.org\/old\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/esdo.org\/old\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/esdo.org\/old\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2017"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/esdo.org\/old\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2017\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2020,"href":"https:\/\/esdo.org\/old\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2017\/revisions\/2020"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/esdo.org\/old\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2018"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/esdo.org\/old\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2017"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/esdo.org\/old\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2017"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/esdo.org\/old\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2017"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}