How harmful is mercury and mercury waste?

Mercury is a highly toxic, persistent and bio-accumulative neurotoxin. Once released, mercury will remain in the environment for years, dispersing over a wide area and accumulating in the tissues of plants, insects, and animals, concentrating on creatures higher up the food chain (e.g., humans). Health effects of mercury can be severe, particularly to a fetus in utero and to younger children.

What are the major sources of mercury waste in a dental office?

• Amalgam wastes, including:
  • contact and non-contact scrap amalgam from capsule mixing, chair-side traps and vacuum pump filters
  • amalgam sludge from separators
• Elemental mercury