Mercury exposure in the work place and human health: dental amalgam use in dentistry at dental teaching institutions and private dental clinics in selected cities of Pakistan
-
Mahmood A. Khwaja
,
Sadaf Nawaz
Abstract
During the past two decades, mercury has come under increasing scrutiny with regard to its safety both in the general population and in occupationally exposed groups. It’s a growing issue of global concern because of its adverse environmental and health impacts. Very few investigations on mercury amalgam use in the dentistry sector have been carried out in South Asia and there is little data reported on mercury contamination of indoor/outdoor air at dental sites. According to an earlier SDPI study, reported in 2013, alarmingly high mercury levels were observed in air (indoor as well as outdoor) at 11 of the 34 visited dental sites (17 dental teaching institutions, 7 general hospitals & 10 dental clinics) in five main cities of Pakistan. 88% of the sites indicated indoor mercury levels in air above the USA EPA reference level of 300 ng/m3. According to our study, carried out at 38 dental teaching institutions in 12 main cities (in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Punjab and Sindh provinces) of Pakistan, respondents were of the opinion that the currently offered BDS curriculum does not effectively guide outgoing dental professionals and does not provide them adequate knowledge and training about mercury/mercury amalgam and other mercury related human health and mercury waste issues. 90% of respondents supported the review and revision of the present dental curriculum offered at dental teaching institutions in the country, at the earliest. A study has also been conducted to assess the status of mercury amalgam use in private dental clinics in Gilgit, Hunza, Peshawar, Rawalpindi and Islamabad. More than 90 private dental clinics were visited and dental professionals/private clinics in-charge were interviewed during June–July, 2015. The focus areas of the study were Hg amalgam toxicity, its waste management practices and safety measures practiced among the dental practitioners. In the light of the findings described and discussed in this brief report, to safeguard public health and for the protection of environment, it is strongly recommended that since mercury amalgam use cannot be banned immediately in the country, its use may be regularized and allowed subject to use of “Amalgam Separators,” “Capsulated Mercury” and “Mechanized Mixing,” use of mercury amalgam be banned for children (below 12 years age) and pregnant women. The curriculum currently being taught at medical and dental colleges in the country be reviewed and revised, to ensure adequate training towards minimizing mercury exposure.
Acknowledgments
The valuable contribution and support of SDPI mercury air monitoring team and Mr. Adnan Hassan (MIS), is gratefully acknowledged by the authors, with many appreciative thanks.
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©2016 by De Gruyter
Articles in the same Issue
- Frontmatter
- Editorial
- Traditional and emerging environmental hazards in South-East Asia: double-trouble in the 21st century
- A quarter century of the Pacific Basin Consortium: looking back to move forward
- Exposure to Metals
- Arsenic projects in SE Asia
- Lead exposure from battery recycling in Indonesia
- Connecting mercury science to policy: from sources to seafood
- Mercury exposure in the work place and human health: dental amalgam use in dentistry at dental teaching institutions and private dental clinics in selected cities of Pakistan
- Protecting health from metal exposures in drinking water
- Exposure assessment of lead from food and airborne dusts and biomonitoring in pregnant mothers, their fetus and siblings in Karachi, Pakistan and Shimotsuke, Japan
- Mining
- Reconciling PM10 analyses by different sampling methods for Iron King Mine tailings dust
- The “CHILD” framework for the study of artisanal mercury mining communities
- Hydraulic fracturing for natural gas: impact on health and environment
- Hazardous Waste
- Searching bioremediation patents through Cooperative Patent Classification (CPC)
- Proteomics of Sphingobium indicum B90A for a deeper understanding of hexachlorocyclohexane (HCH) bioremediation
- Novel industrial wastewater treatment integrated with recovery of water and salt under a zero liquid discharge concept
- Water
- Connecting science with industry: lessons learned transferring a novel plasmonic mercury sensor from the bench to the field
- Pilot-scale UV/H2O2 study for emerging organic contaminants decomposition
- Nanotechnology: a clean and sustainable technology for the degradation of pharmaceuticals present in water and wastewater
- Solar-driven membrane distillation demonstration in Leupp, Arizona
- What works in water supply and sanitation projects in developing countries with EWB-USA
- Natural Disasters and a Changing Environment
- Environmental exposures due to natural disasters
- Changing exposures in a changing world: models for reducing the burden of disease
- Sustainable development through a gendered lens: climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction
- Environmental Justice and Human Rights
- Creating healthy and just bioregions
- Worm-free children: an integrated approach to reduction of soil-transmitted helminth infections in Central Java
- Diabetes in Native Americans: elevated risk as a result of exposure to polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs)
- Pollution, health and development: the need for a new paradigm
- EcoSystem
- Pacific connections for health, ecosystems and society: new approaches to the land-water-health nexus
- Exposure to e-waste
- E-waste: the growing global problem and next steps
- Global challenges for e-waste management: the societal implications
- E-waste issues in Sri Lanka and the Basel Convention
- E-waste interventions in Ghana
- CALUX bioassay: a cost-effective rapid screening technique for screening dioxins like compounds
- Cancer
- Cancer surveillance and research on environmental contributions to cancer
- Domestic incense use and lung cancer in Asia: a review
- Children
- Inadequate water, sanitation and hygiene in the South Pacific: how might it be impacting children?
- Children’s environmental health indicators in Australia: are we collecting the right information?
- Community-based efforts in health promotion in indigenous villages on the Thailand-Myanmar border
- Emerging issues
- Bayesian networks in infectious disease eco-epidemiology
- Health co-benefits in mortality avoidance from implementation of the mass rapid transit (MRT) system in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
- Particulate matter 2.5 (PM2.5) personal exposure evaluation on mechanics and administrative officers at the motor vehicle testing center at Pulo Gadung, DKI Jakarta
- Life cycle assessment of dairy farms
Articles in the same Issue
- Frontmatter
- Editorial
- Traditional and emerging environmental hazards in South-East Asia: double-trouble in the 21st century
- A quarter century of the Pacific Basin Consortium: looking back to move forward
- Exposure to Metals
- Arsenic projects in SE Asia
- Lead exposure from battery recycling in Indonesia
- Connecting mercury science to policy: from sources to seafood
- Mercury exposure in the work place and human health: dental amalgam use in dentistry at dental teaching institutions and private dental clinics in selected cities of Pakistan
- Protecting health from metal exposures in drinking water
- Exposure assessment of lead from food and airborne dusts and biomonitoring in pregnant mothers, their fetus and siblings in Karachi, Pakistan and Shimotsuke, Japan
- Mining
- Reconciling PM10 analyses by different sampling methods for Iron King Mine tailings dust
- The “CHILD” framework for the study of artisanal mercury mining communities
- Hydraulic fracturing for natural gas: impact on health and environment
- Hazardous Waste
- Searching bioremediation patents through Cooperative Patent Classification (CPC)
- Proteomics of Sphingobium indicum B90A for a deeper understanding of hexachlorocyclohexane (HCH) bioremediation
- Novel industrial wastewater treatment integrated with recovery of water and salt under a zero liquid discharge concept
- Water
- Connecting science with industry: lessons learned transferring a novel plasmonic mercury sensor from the bench to the field
- Pilot-scale UV/H2O2 study for emerging organic contaminants decomposition
- Nanotechnology: a clean and sustainable technology for the degradation of pharmaceuticals present in water and wastewater
- Solar-driven membrane distillation demonstration in Leupp, Arizona
- What works in water supply and sanitation projects in developing countries with EWB-USA
- Natural Disasters and a Changing Environment
- Environmental exposures due to natural disasters
- Changing exposures in a changing world: models for reducing the burden of disease
- Sustainable development through a gendered lens: climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction
- Environmental Justice and Human Rights
- Creating healthy and just bioregions
- Worm-free children: an integrated approach to reduction of soil-transmitted helminth infections in Central Java
- Diabetes in Native Americans: elevated risk as a result of exposure to polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs)
- Pollution, health and development: the need for a new paradigm
- EcoSystem
- Pacific connections for health, ecosystems and society: new approaches to the land-water-health nexus
- Exposure to e-waste
- E-waste: the growing global problem and next steps
- Global challenges for e-waste management: the societal implications
- E-waste issues in Sri Lanka and the Basel Convention
- E-waste interventions in Ghana
- CALUX bioassay: a cost-effective rapid screening technique for screening dioxins like compounds
- Cancer
- Cancer surveillance and research on environmental contributions to cancer
- Domestic incense use and lung cancer in Asia: a review
- Children
- Inadequate water, sanitation and hygiene in the South Pacific: how might it be impacting children?
- Children’s environmental health indicators in Australia: are we collecting the right information?
- Community-based efforts in health promotion in indigenous villages on the Thailand-Myanmar border
- Emerging issues
- Bayesian networks in infectious disease eco-epidemiology
- Health co-benefits in mortality avoidance from implementation of the mass rapid transit (MRT) system in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
- Particulate matter 2.5 (PM2.5) personal exposure evaluation on mechanics and administrative officers at the motor vehicle testing center at Pulo Gadung, DKI Jakarta
- Life cycle assessment of dairy farms
