Washington, DC— Congresswoman Diane E. Watson (CA-33) today participated in a panel of mercury dental experts sponsored by the International Academy of Oral and Medical Toxicology (IAOMT).   The panel addressed the environmental and health risks of the use of mercury dental amalgams in dentistry.

Congresswoman Watson,  formerly the Chair of the California State Senate's Health and Human Services Committee for seventeen years, said, "The use of mercury in dentistry is an issue that can only be pushed under the rug for so long.  The battle we are now in to rid mercury from dentistry reminds me of the fourteen year battle I and others waged in the California State Senate to ban tobacco from the workplace and public places of gathering.  Back then, the critics said it couldn't be done.   However,  over two decades later, we have laws in almost every state banning smoking in public places.  Smoking is now outlawed on all domestic and international air travel.  But the victory required years of intense public education.  We are now in the stage of educating the public about the dangers of the use of mercury in dentistry.  We will persevere, and ultimately we will win."

"Mercury is one of the most lethal neuro-toxic substances known to man," said Congresswoman Watson.  "It has been taken out of other health care products including disinfectants, thermometers, childhood vaccines, and even horse medicine.  Despite the public's growing awareness of the danger of exposure to even small amounts of mercury, it is still widely used in making dental amalgams and comprises over 50% of the dental amalgam compound.  It is an undisputed fact that harmful mercury vapor emanates from a mercury amalgam restoration for the life of the filling." 

"It is past time to remove mercury from one of its last remaining uses in the human body.  My bill, H.R. 4011, will do just that by immediately banning the use of mercury amalgams in pregnant mothers and children and then phasing out its use in all others over a three-year period."

Members of the IAOMT who also participated in the panel discussion are Dr. Louis Chang, Taiwan National Health Research Institute; Dr. Fritz Lorscheider, University of Calgary; Dr. Boyd Haley, University of Kentucky; and Michael Bender,  Mercury Policy Project.