Ban on dental amalgam for women, children on the anvil

Legislation on banning dental amalgam on children and pregnant women by the year 2020 is on the anvil.
Bangladesh along with 140 countries has signed last January a legal binding treaty to eliminate anthropogenic emissions of mercury.
The production, import and export of a range of other devices containing mercury, including mercury thermometers, will be banned by 2020.
“A crucial meeting with stakeholders, including representatives of Bangladesh Dental Society (BDS), Bangladesh Medical Association, Bangladesh Medical and Dental Council and non-governmental organisations will be held soon to determine the transition to safe dental care,” said Basudeb Ganguly, Joint Secretary at the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.
The official said the mercury amalgam should be banned in dentistry and it is possible to phase out mercury from Bangladesh by 2016.
He was speaking at a seminar on Mercury Free Dentistry: Framework for Alternatives of Mercury Amalgam, organised jointly by Asian Centre for Environment Health and Environmental and Social Development Organisation (ESDO) on Tuesday at the WVA auditorium in the city.
Dental amalgam contains 50 per cent mercury. Amalgam is used in filling dental cavity caused by tooth decay. It is a mixture of liquid mercury, silver, tin and copper and the
fillings have dark silver colour, described Dr Ali Ashgor Moral,
president of BDS.
Dr Moral, also a professor of Faculty of Dentistry, Bangabandhu Medical University, said dental amalgam fillings breakdown and slowly releases mercury into the blood streams. This occurs faster for people who grind their teeth or chew gum.
ESDO chief Dr Hossain Shahriar said most dentists have failed to
satisfy safe disposal of mercury wastes after completing dental amalgam fillings.
An ESDO survey of hospitals in Bangladesh found that healthcare staffs are unaware of the dangers of mercury and most mercury spills end up in open landfills, which obviously contaminates ground water reservoir.
Mercury is understood to have serious health implications. A few micrograms of mercury toxicity causes damages to the brain and the nervous system, reducing memory and learning deficiency of those exposed, Dr Shahriar said.

Collected: www.observerbd.com

Posted by admin on Apr 16 2014. Filed under Bangladesh Exclusive, News at Now. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry