STATE OF FLORIDA

Best Management

Practices

for

Scrap

Dental Amalgam

Guidelines

for Dental Offices In June 2001, the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) and Department of Health (DOH),

in cooperation with the Florida Dental Association(FDA), together completed the development of guidelines for the recycling of scrap amalgam in dental offices. These voluntary guidelines were developed tohelp dental offices handle and recycle the mercury inamalgams used for dental restorations in compliancewith applicable environmental, biomedical, occupational health and transportation regulations. The DEP

has determined that, as of August 2001, compliancewith these voluntary management practices will alsoconstitute compliance with DEP, DOH, FL DOT andUS OSHA regulations that apply to scrap dental amalgam. If you choose not to manage scrap dental amalgam in accordance with these voluntary managementpractices, it is your responsibility to assure that yourfacility operates in compliance with all regulations.

For detailed hazardous and biomedical waste disposalrequirements, refer to appropriate DEP, DOH and Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA)publications. Refer to Department of Transportation(USDOT) regulations for detailed shipping requirements.

amalgam (ah-mal ́gam) an alloy of two or moremetals, one of which is mercury. dental, an amalgam of silver, tin, and mercury (Ag3Sn + Hg) with

low concentrations of copper and sometimes zinc;used for filling cavities in teeth.mercury (mer ́ku-re) a metallic element, liquid at

ordinary temperatures; quicksilver. Its symbol is Hg;atomic number, 80; atomic weight, 200.59; specificgravity, 13.546. It is insoluble in ordinary solvents.** Dorland’s Illustrated Medical Dictionary

PRESORT

STANDARD

U.S. Postage

PAID

Tallahassee, FL

Permit # 260

According to DEP studies, sources of mercury in dental offices include scrap amalgam, fluorescent lamps,and mercury thermostats. Monitoring/analytical lamps,water-bath thermometers and sphygmomanometersalso may contain mercury. Because most dental officesdon’t produce more than 220 pounds of scrap amalgam, x-ray fixer solution and lead foil from x-ray film(combined) per month, they are regulated as conditionally exempt small quantity generators (CESQG) by DEP.It is important to develop scrap amalgam guidelines toensure that mercury is not released into the environment. So, its reclamation is extremely important forenvironmental and health-safety reasons. By keepingscrap amalgam separate from other waste, it can bereclaimed and recycled. Recycling is done by qualifiedreclamation companies through a distillation process.The mercury is then reused in new products, including dental amalgam.For detailed supporting regulatory documentation andmore information about the best management practicesfor scrap dental amalgam, call DEP at (850) 488-0300 orvisit the DEP Web site (www.dep.state.fl.us).

Best Management Practices for Scrap Dental Amalgam

October 2001

Florida Department of Environmental Protection

2600 Blair Stone Road MS 4555

Twin Towers Building

Tallahassee, FL 32399-2400
The Dos and Don’ts

of Scrap Amalgam Management◗ Do keep amalgam usage for each restoration to the

smallest amount necessary for the procedure.

◗ Do use precapsulated dental amalgam only.◗ Do use disposable amalgam traps if practical.◗ Do sterilize reusable amalgam traps if disposable

are not appropriate for your practice facility.

◗ Do install at least two filters on the vacuum pumps.◗ Do change the vacuum pump filters at least once

a month.

◗ Do keep written records of your generation and

disposal of scrap amalgam.

◗ Do recycle all elemental mercury and amalgam.◗ Do store amalgam in a container with an air tight

fitting lid.

◗ Do label scrap amalgam containers with your

name, address and phone number and the date.

◗ Do disassemble and clean the amalgamator on a

regular basis.

◗ Do properly seal all amalgam capsules before amalgamation.◗ Do reassemble capsules immediately after dispensing the amalgam.◗ Do determine if your dental office is a conditionally exempt small-quantity generator.◗ Do select a recycler that meets all federal and state

regulations for the reclamation of amalgam waste.

◗ Do place mercury spill kits in convenient locations

for easy access in your dental office.

◗ Do hold training sessions and develop written procedures to ensure that all dental-office personnel

know the proper techniques for handling and using mercury; how to immediately cleanup a mercury spill; and how to manage scrap amalgam.

◗ Don’t rinse amalgam traps over drains or sinks.◗ Don’t discard amalgam, extracted teeth containing amalgam or amalgam traps into the garbage,

red bags or sharps containers.

◗ Don’t handle mercury or mix amalgam in a carpeted area.◗ Don’t use a regular vacuum cleaner to clean up a

mercury spill.

Scrap Dental Amalgam

Management Procedures

Best Management Practices for Scrap Dental Amalgam

Contact informationFlorida Department of Environmental Protection

(850) 488-0300www.dep.state.fl.us/waste/categories/mercury

Florida Department of Health

(850) 245-4277 ◗ www.doh.state.fl.us

Florida Dental Association

(800) 877-9922 / (850) 681-3629www.floridadental.org

Occupational Safety and Health Administration

Region 4 Office – Atlanta(404) 562-2300 ◗ www.osha.gov

U. S. Department of Transportation

(800) 467-4922 ◗ www.hazmat.dot.gov

Sources of Scrap Dental Amalgamfrom OperationsThere are three sources of scrap amalgam from dental operations:◗ Excess amalgam which is mixed, but not used; damaged capsules.◗ Amalgam from the operatory. This can be unused

mixed amalgam or amalgam retrieved from operatorydrain traps. Amalgam from operatory drain traps canbe handled as scrap amalgam as long as the traps contain little or no tissue.

◗ Amalgam contained in extracted teeth. Extracted teeth

that have no amalgam would be regulated as medicalwaste and cannot be placed in the same container asextracted teeth with amalgam.

Handling of Scrap Amalgam1. Marked Container: Place scrap amalgam from all three

sources into a “sharps type” container (as defined byOSHA) that is initially marked “Biohazardous.” To differentiate from biomedical waste which is placed in ared bag or container, the scrap amalgam containershould be a different color (silver). A “sharps type” container may be supplied by the recycler or reclamationfacility.

2. Decontaminate: When the container is full or ready for

shipment, add enough 1:10 bleach:water solution tocover the scrap amalgam in the container. This ensuresthat the scrap amalgam has been decontaminated perOSHA. To ensure that the decontamination solutionstrength does not dissipate over time, do not add thesolution until the container is full or ready for shipment.

3. Label: Cover the “Biohazardous” marking on the container with a label reading “Scrap amalgam decontaminated with 1:10 bleach: water solution on (month/day/

year).” This ensures that the full residence time of thescrap amalgam (including extracted teeth with amalgam) is documented on the container label.

Shipping Scrap AmalgamFollow these requirements when shipping scrap amalgamto a mercury reclamation facility:1. Dental offices that ship less than two pounds of scrap

amalgam (one pound of mercury) per container are notrequired to meet any DOT regulations.

2. Written records, including the name and address of the

dental office shipping the scrap amalgam, the amountshipped, the date of the shipment and the name andaddress of the reclamation facility receiving the shipment, must be retained for three years.

3. If the shipping container contains two pounds or more

of scrap amalgam (one pound of mercury), it is regulated as a DOT Class 9 hazardous substance. In this case,a mercury reclamation facility should provide theneeded documentation to meet all necessary DOT shipping requirements.

Reclamation FacilitiesThe Florida Department of Environmental Protection maintains a list of in-state and out-of-state mercury reclamationfacilities that currently receive scrap amalgam and that havebeen investigated by the DEP to verify proper managementof scrap amalgam, including proper management of themercury. Call the DEP at (850) 488-0300 or visit the DEPWeb site for the list.