The Commission approves the three-year deadline for dentists to stop using mercury amalgams – News

25/10/2023 – 13:16

The Environment Committee of the Chamber of Deputies approved bill 3098/21, which sets a three-year deadline for ending the use of mercury amalgams in dental procedures in the country. Amalgam is a metal alloy used in dental restorations.

According to the proposal, by the deputy Carlos Henrique Gaguim (União-TO), during three years only the use of these amalgams sold in capsules suitable for dental use will be allowed. The goal is to reduce the risk of contamination from mercury handling and amalgam bonding dust.

Immediate stop
If the project is approved in law, the use of mercury amalgams in:

• pregnant, lactating or women of reproductive age;
• children and adolescents;
• people with neurological or kidney diseases; It
• persons with previous mercury poisoning.

The thought of approval
The opinion of the relator, deputy Nilto Tatto (PT-PS), was favorable to the proposal. He recalls that the Minamata Convention on Mercury, in force since 2017, recognizes that mercury is a substance of global concern. This is because it has atmospheric spread over long distances, persists in the environment, accumulates in ecosystems and has significant negative effects on human health.

After being confirmed by the National Congress in November 2017, the international agreement was released by the President of the Republic in August 2018 (Decree 9,470/18).

Minamata imposes targets that Brazil must meet by 2020. “The project is fully in line with the objectives of the Minamata Convention, to which Brazil is a signatory,” Tatto said.

Gradual reduction
The text obliges dentists who still use mercury amalgam to develop, within 90 days, a plan to gradually reduce the use of this product.

The plan should contain the timetable for replacing the material with a more suitable one and inform the destination of the remaining mercury and amalgam.

The proposal also prohibits the storage of mercury and amalgam wastes exceeding 500 grams at the site where they are treated. Finally, the text obliges the companies responsible for the final disposal of these substances to inform about the quantity, origin and destination of the groups to the bodies of health supervision and environmental protection.

Limitation in force
As of January 2019, a resolution by the National Health Surveillance Agency (Anvisa) has already banned the production, import, sale and use in health services of mercury and unencapsulated amalgam alloy powder.

According to the agency, the objective is to remove from the market health materials that use mercury in their composition, as stipulated in the Minamata Convention.

Processing
The project will be analyzed in final character, from the health committees; and Constitution and Justice and Citizenship.

Report – Lara Haje
Editing – Natalia Doederlein