"Question: WHAT ARE OTHER COUNTRIES DOING ABOUT THE AMALGAM
ISSUE? (return to list)
Answer: It is apparent that many of the countries in the
world are much more aware of the dangers of mercury than is
the United States.
GERMANY: At the present time Germany is more progressive
than any other country on the dental mercury issue. They
have banned one type of amalgam from further use in Germany;
they have issued warnings that amalgam should not be placed
in children and women of child bearing age. The biggest
amalgam manufacturer in Germany, a company by the name of
Degussa arbitrarily stopped the manufacture of amalgam and
recently settled, out of court, a law suit against it, by
agreeing to provide 1,200,000 DM to the University of Munich
for research into the pathological effects of amalgam.
Additionally, approximately 1500 citizens have filed ''civil
complaints'' against amalgam manufacturers for injury. It is
our understanding that the Frankfurt Prosecutor believes
there is sufficient substance to the claims that he is
proceeding with a case against amalgam manufacturers.
SWEDEN: Sweden was at the forefront of scientific research
on dental mercury for many years. Its civilian population
has been very active, including the Swedish Patient
Organization (has over 25,000 members who have been damaged
by dental mercury or who support the efforts to stop its use
as a dental material). As a consequence of civilian
pressures on the government, a plan was formulated to phase
out the use of amalgam totally by the end of January 1997.
At the present time there is a ban on the use of amalgam in
anyone under the age of 19. Some counties in Sweden have
already stopped completely the use of amalgam in dentistry.
Many of Swedens concerns were related also to the
environmental impact of mercury effluent and scrap amalgam
disposal from dental offices. The entire process has been
vigoursly fought against by the Swedish Dental Association,
who like the American Dental Association maintains that
amalgam is safe.
CANADA: Canada is about to announce a new policy on the use
of mercury/amalgam within that country. The agency within
the Canadian government responsible for such policy is
Health Canada (similar to our FDA), and in 1994 they
directed one of their staff members, Dr. Mark Richardson,
Ph.D., to do a ''Risk Assement Analysis'' of dental amalgam.
Dr. Richardson's report clearly indicated a health risk for
continued use of amalgam as a dental material and basically
recommended that the numbers of amalgam dental fillings be
limited to no more than four (4) in adults and only one (1)
in children up to the age of 6. The Canadian Dental
Association was extremely agressive in attempting to attack
the credibility of Dr. Richardson himself, and the
conclusions of the report. They enlisted the aid of the ADA
as well as representatives from several countries. Many anti-
amalgam civilian activist groups as well as the
International Academy of Oral Medicine and Toxicology, were
also involved in the review process. As a result of the
Canadian Dental Association's (CDA's) unethical tactics, all
of these groups sent letters of protest and resignation from
the review process. The reporting of these actions in the
Canadian media caused great embarrassment for Health Canada.
The Director of Health Canada, sent a letter to the
President of the CDA admonishing him and the organization
for their tactics and conduct. The Director is now getting
ready to announce Health Canadas decision and we are all
hopeful that he will not buckle to the intense lobbying and
political pressures being brought to bear by organized
dentistry, but will instead opt to protect the Canadian
citizens. The fact that since 1985, most of the major
research on the potential dangers of amalgam as a dental
material have been performed at the University of Calgary
Medical School, one of the premier medical institutions in
the world, makes Health Canadas decision extremely critical.
AUSTRIA: At the present time it is the intention of Austria
to completely stop the use of amalgam in dentistry by the
year 2000."
Source: Bioprobe