The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will not be issuing any further regulation on mercury discharge from dental offices, according to a recent ADA news story.
The ADA's best management practices (BMPs) calls for dentists to install amalgam separators on a voluntary basis.
"The EPA signaled support for the association's voluntary approach even as a House subcommittee staff called for 'a mandatory program wherein dental clinics are required to install amalgam separators and follow BMPs for management of amalgam waste," the story reports. "EPA's announcement disdains that approach as unnecessary."
"We agree with and applaud EPA's decision that mandatory measures are not needed in dental offices to protect the environment from dental amalgam waste," said ADA President Mark J. Feldman. "The ADA led the way with our voluntary best management practices which provide dentists with step-by-step guidelines on how to capture and recycle dental amalgam waste."
