Dental clinics add to water pollution
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Green dental offices will soon become the need of the day! Although coal-run power plants are one of the leading sources of high levels of mercury in water, amongst the lesser yet significant contributors towards the same is also the dental sector. Sources reveal that dental amalgam or silver fillings, in fact, have mercury and during the course of fillings and removal of old fillings, the same manages to find its way into aquatic ecosystems through waste water from dental clinics.
Interestingly, Environment Protection Agency in the US, as well as our own environment and pollution experts, agree that amalgam entering water will ultimately be absorbed and biomagnified into aquatic fauna. Mercury in this amalgam, experts said, ultimately enter humans through fish etc. In fact, officials like W.G. Prasanna Kumar, social scientist, APPCB, who are aware of the problem, said that amalgam separators or mercury removal systems for removing mercury from wastewater before letting it go into municipal waste water should be installed, but the same is perhaps practically not possible in this part of the world right now. “Meanwhile, APPCB is taking note of disposal of wastes from dental clinics as well,” he said.
Even though the AP Pollution Control Board has been conducting raids on various hospitals and tightening its noose to ensure compliance of rules pertaining to biomedical waste management, the waste generated by dental clinics has been going unnoticed. As per Eco-Dentistry Association, even dentists who do not use mercury amalgams, still need an amalgam separator if they are just into removing the amalgam fillings since an amalgam separator can capture three pounds of mercury-containing waste material in one year.
“In fact, the scientific community should come up with a solution to dental pollution. Meanwhile, we must aim at cleaner production for the dental industry as well,” said Mr Prasanna.
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