Silver Fillings Are Safe?
Fourteen Massachusetts dental practices have been fined $500 by the state Department of Environmental Protection for failing to prevent mercury from being released into the water supply.
Dental practices are required to keep the material used to fill cavities, called dental amalgam, from the commonwealth’s water supply because it contains mercury. The MassDEP passed regulations three years ago that require dental practices to install and operate wastewater treatment systems that capture and recycle amalgam waste that contain mercury.
MassDEP sent enforcement notices to 30 dental facilities for failing to certify that they had installed state-approved equipment for keeping mercury amalgam out of their wastewater – even after being told they were already late in complying with the regulations. The agency gave the dental practices 30 days to comply with the rules. As of July 28, 14 dental facilities had not complied and were fined $500.
The dentists or dental facilities that remain out of compliance include Dr. Matthew Healey of Billerica; Family Dental Practice of Cambridge; Montgomery Dental Associates of Chicopee; Dr. Keith Morris of Dorchester; Dr. Jeffrey Poirier of Fitchburg; Groton Dental Wellness Spa of Groton; Groveland Family Dental Center of Groveland; Dr. Elsa Guzman of Jamaica Plain; Dr. Donald E. Jaffe of New Bedford; Dr. James E. Kearns of North Dartmouth; Family Dentist of Norwood; Dr. John Brazill of Pittsfield; Dr. Ashok K. Patel of Waltham; and Dr. Joseph Guarino of West Roxbury.