[{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org\/","@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/iaomt.org\/hg-emission-amalgam-measured\/#Article","mainEntityOfPage":"https:\/\/iaomt.org\/hg-emission-amalgam-measured\/","headline":"Hg Emission from Amalgam Actually Measured!","name":"Hg Emission from Amalgam Actually Measured!","description":"A STUDY ON THE RELEASE OF MERCURY FROM DENTAL AMALGAMS MADE FROM DIFFERENT MANUFACTURED MATERIALS SHOWED EXTREMELY HIGH LEVELS OF MERCURY RELEASED FROM AMALGAM","datePublished":"2007-07-17","dateModified":"2019-01-27","author":{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/iaomt.org\/author\/jessica\/#Person","name":"Webmaster","url":"https:\/\/iaomt.org\/author\/jessica\/","identifier":3,"image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/iaomt.org\/wp-content\/litespeed\/avatar\/6aa2b98c8dd5e8c8b24956bfacd0d2ed.jpg?ver=1779222347","url":"https:\/\/iaomt.org\/wp-content\/litespeed\/avatar\/6aa2b98c8dd5e8c8b24956bfacd0d2ed.jpg?ver=1779222347","height":96,"width":96}},"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"The International Academy of Oral Medicine & Toxicology","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/iaomt.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/IAOMT-Schema-app-logo.jpg","url":"https:\/\/iaomt.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/IAOMT-Schema-app-logo.jpg","width":120,"height":60}},"image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/iaomt.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/amalgam-fillings.jpg","url":"https:\/\/iaomt.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/amalgam-fillings.jpg","height":450,"width":600},"url":"https:\/\/iaomt.org\/hg-emission-amalgam-measured\/","about":["Articles"],"wordCount":819,"keywords":["Dental Mercury Research"],"articleBody":"amalgam fillings contain 50% elemental mercurySummary:\u00a0 Mercury emissions from single-spill samples of three popular precapsulated amalgams, Tytin, Dispersalloy, and Valiant, were measured in water at room temperature, 23o C.\u00a0 Daily emission was 4.5 to 21 micrograms per day, much higher than previously “estimated” values offered by ADA spokespeople in the past. It is now obvious why pro-amalgamists never actually measured these values.\u00a0A STUDY ON THE RELEASE OF MERCURY FROM DENTAL AMALGAMS MADE FROM DIFFERENT MANUFACTURED MATERIALS AND PRODUCED BY NINE DIFFERENT DENTISTS.3 May 2007\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 This study was initiated in collaboration with the IAOMT to determine the amount of mercury released into distilled water at room temperature by dental amalgams made in Plexiglas molds drilled out to hold a single spill of amalgam.\u00a0 Nine such molds were sent to dentists along with unopened kits from the manufacturers.\u00a0 The amalgams were placed in the molds by these trained dentists and then sent to the Department of Chemistry at the University of Kentucky.\u00a0 At this location, the amalgams were removed from the molds and allowed to set for 3 months to insure total aging and the loss of surface bound mercury. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The amalgams were weighed and measured to determine surface area.\u00a0 They were then placed in 15 ml tubes with 10 ml of distilled water.\u00a0 The water was changed daily for a week and disposed of.\u00a0 At day one of the study, which lasted 28 days, the water was collected and the mercury was measured using a Nippon mercury vapor analyzer.\u00a0 Each day a standard curve was ran to insure the instrument was working properly.\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The standard curve shows that the instrument can detect mercury in the low nanogram levels and the amount found in the test solutions were 1,000 times higher.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The following graph shows the data collected from three amalgams from each of the nine sets over a 28 day period. The values are microgams\/cm2 surface area.DENTISTSBRANDDAY1DAY4DAY8DAY11DAY15DAY18DAY22DAY25\u00a0#1Tytin14.20713.17512.24411.83511.63911.56814.14713.240\u00a0\u00a021.05520.48419.76920.15022.51220.91218.79816.579\u00a0\u00a09.4078.2818.6939.7319.55611.7819.7999.219#2Tytin9.0248.6628.2727.5218.04311.2169.5158.670\u00a0\u00a010.75710.3419.7136.3847.0307.5407.4286.782\u00a0\u00a07.5397.1086.6566.5086.8996.5086.9598.200#3Dispersalloy11.42410.89712.07710.39210.73810.97612.09411.538\u00a0\u00a08.2427.6758.1237.4257.4998.8728.5888.463\u00a0\u00a010.52910.42710.55311.14910.46310.15610.55910.228#4Tytin9.0988.0637.7957.3667.9947.3049.8039.305\u00a0\u00a010.94910.21610.77310.43112.25011.31912.47611.197\u00a0\u00a015.92515.52514.99212.23412.79714.67014.03813.647\u00a0DENTISTSBRANDDAY1DAY4DAY8DAY11DAY15DAY18DAY22DAY25#5Valiant9.9219.6779.5809.4638.7008.8739.3929.311\u00a0\u00a09.7519.2628.8868.2028.0748.0149.56310.322\u00a0\u00a08.0757.2887.0547.2887.5587.3117.3156.956#6Dispersalloy9.9669.62010.85110.59011.2609.0709.2809.014\u00a0\u00a07.3227.9229.9139.2798.6396.8097.5428.672\u00a0\u00a09.2068.6858.5998.4807.7838.2707.9368.997#7Valiant5.9585.8294.4084.5334.2664.4735.1364.460\u00a0\u00a05.2804.7624.4924.2794.8014.5054.3004.862\u00a0\u00a04.5964.7044.9294.8676.1475.7985.9365.468#8Valiant6.8416.9046.7885.7828.1587.7407.8938.026\u00a0\u00a012.45811.87811.77112.40412.14610.69310.48410.221\u00a0\u00a013.91113.42112.61811.17611.66913.43913.20813.090#9Dispersalloy11.35711.23811.88712.08615.33514.71214.47315.859\u00a0\u00a017.79617.48416.76519.58419.32120.71620.69619.995\u00a0\u00a015.33614.60214.08618.62517.75912.38916.28515.580\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The table above is an abbreviated presentation of the results done to make the results more clear and presentable.\u00a0 It should also be noted that the level of mercury emission was not stimulated by any brushing or manipulation of the amalgam.\u00a0 Our previous studies showed that mild brushing with a standard toothbrush for just a few strokes will greatly increase the amount of mercury released, many times by over 10-fold.\u00a0 Also, the reported measured mercury does not contain any \u201camalgam particles\u201d that would be produced by brushing or abrasion. Great care was taken not to move the amalgam during the recovery of sampled water.\u00a0 All 10 mls of the water were gently removed to insure proper mixing.\u00a0 This is because we did an experiment removing the water 1 ml at a time from the top using a microliter pipette and noticed that the closer to the amalgam the higher the mercury concentration became.\u00a0 Also, the surface area of all of the amalgams were very close in value with most being between 0.8 to 1.0 cm2 making the amount emitted per cm2 near the amount emitted per single spill filling.\u00a0 The weight of the amalgams varied and averaged 0.663 g\/amalgam and had a radius of 0.203 cm.\u00a0 This would be the size of a small filling in the mouth.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 While the amount of mercury released remained somewhat consistent within each amalgam it seems as if amalgam made by the same dentist on the same day could have a significant variability of mercury release even if from the same manufacturer.\u00a0 Additionally, amalgam from the same manufacturer could produce significantly different levels of mercury release when prepared by different dentists, and sometimes even by the same dentist.\u00a0 We do not know if this difference is due to the dentist\u2019s technique or to a variation in the amalgam making materials.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Finally, even with the lowest level, 4 to 5 micrograms of mercury released per cm2, the level is considerably higher than that \u201cestimated\u201d by pro-amalgam supporters who testified before Congressional committees that the average amalgam released 0.03 micrograms Hg per day.\u00a0 This is about 133 to 667 times higher than the estimated 0.03.\u00a0 These values were obtained with the amalgams in a sealed container under 10 ml of water at room temperature of 23oC with no agitation or abrasion.\u00a0 Therefore, these values must therefore be considered the minimum amount of mercury that could be emitted from these small amalgams.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Assuming the amalgams are 50% mercury and the emission of 5 micrograms Hg\/day then it would take 182 years to lose all of the mercury if the rate stayed consistent.\u00a0 At 20 micrograms per day the time would be 45 years.\u00a0 Considering that 80% of inhaled mercury is retained in the human body for some extended period of time it is obvious that dental amalgams would be one of the major contributors to human mercury body burden.Submitted by: Dr. Boyd HaleyProfessor of Chemistry and BiochemistryUniversity of KentuckyLexington, KY"},{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org\/","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Hg Emission from Amalgam Actually Measured!","item":"https:\/\/iaomt.org\/hg-emission-amalgam-measured\/#breadcrumbitem"}]}]