- Maine Governor Angus King today signed the most advanced
bill in the United States requiring dentists to inform their patients that
amalgam dental fillings contain a large percentage of the toxic element
mercury, which can be harmful to the wearer's health.
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- In his preliminary remarks before signing the bill, Gov.
King noted that Maine has probably taken more action to get mercury out
of the air and water than any other state in the union. "And yet we
all carry it around in our mouths," he remarked.
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- Senate President Michael Michaud spearheaded the bill
and Representatives Joanne Twoomey and Steven Stanley, all of whom were
present, spoke at the signing. Consumer advocates Pam Anderson and Dr.
Tom Anderson, a mercury-free dentist from Houlton, ME, who led grassroots
support for the bill, participated in the ceremony as well.
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- Senate President Michaud cited the courage of the many
individuals who testified on behalf of the bill, especially the dentists
who came forward to endorse it despite the opposition of the American
Dental
Association. "We hope that the U.S. will take Maine's lead and move
forward with legislation at the national level," he said.
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- The bill mandates that every dentist's office will
feature
a poster and a brochure informing patients about the presence of mercury
in amalgam fillings and about its negative health effects.
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- Scientific research has shown that dental amalgam is
the chief source of mercury in the human body. For that reason Rep. Twoomey
described the bill as a major step forward for women of childbearing age
and for children, who receive their first exposure to mercury in the womb
and from their mother's breast milk. Mercury has been implicated in
neurological
disorders of children such as autism and ADD/ADHD, and in fertility
problems
in women.
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- "We are delighted that this bill has been
signed,"
said Rep. Stanley. It is a major step forward to protect the health of
Maine citizens."
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- Pam Anderson added that the group hopes Maine's next
step would be to ban the use of dental amalgam in all women of childbearing
age and in children.
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- Other participants in the press conference were -
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- Kathleen McGee, Director of the Maine Toxic Action
Coalition
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- Marjorie Monteleone, Maine DAMS (Dental Amalgam Mercury
Syndrome) Coordinator
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- Rosie Cronen, New Hampshire DAMS Coordinator
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- Representatives from the Maine People's Alliance, the
Maine Citizens for Affordable Health Care, and the Maine Department of
Environmental Protection
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- Dr. Gerald Vermette, mercury-free dentist
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- Rosemary Fecteau, Ph.D., whose husband died of mercury
toxicity from his dental fillings
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- Charles Brown, attorney for the national organization
Consumers for Dental Choice
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- and New York City DAMS Coordinator Dr. Lydia Bronte,
author of a widely respected book, THE MERCURY IN YOUR MOUTH: The Truth
About "Silver" Dental Fillings.
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- "The public is being deceived by the terminology
used for these fillings," said Charles Brown in his remarks. "The
ADA calls them "silver" fillings, but they are really MERCURY
fillings. If people knew the principal ingredient is mercury they would
not want these fillings in their teeth."
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- Gov. King compared the current use of mercury in dental
fillings with the 1950's use in shoe stores of powerful x-ray machines
called fluoroscopes, which exposed hundreds of thousands of adults and
children to high doses of toxic x-rays. "Every child who went into
the shoe store to buy new shoes would put his feet into the fluoroscope
so the bones could be seen," King recalled. "People who worked
in the store were exposed to the radiation all day; children played games
around the machine. Now we realize it was a terrible thing to do, but then
it seemed perfectly normal. Some day we will wonder how we could ever have
put such a toxic substance into the human mouth."
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