• • • 
SIXTEENTH CONGRESS OF THE REPUBLIC 
) 
OF THE PHILIPPINES 
) 
Second Regular Session 
) 
'14 JUl 23 All:07 
Introduced by Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago 
AN ACT 
PROHIBITING THE USE OF MERCURY IN DENTAL AMALGAM FILLINGS 
EXPLANATORY NOTE 
Dental amalgam is a dental tilling material used to till cavities caused by tooth decay. It 
has been used for more than 150 years in hundreds of millions of patients. 
Dental amalgam is a mixture of metals, consisting of liquid mercury and a powdered 
alloy composed of silver, tin, and copper. Approximately 50% of dental amalgam is elemental 
mercury by weight.' 
Elemental mercury and mercury compounds are known to be toxic and hazardous to 
human health and to the environment. Men;ury is number three on the 2013 U.S. Agency tor 
Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) Priority List of Hazardous Substances, behind 
arsenic and lead. 
The mercury contained in dental amalgam is continually emitted in the form of mercury 
vapor, and the total amount of mercury released depends upon the total number of fillings; their 
age, composition, and surface area; the intra-oral presence of other metals; dietary and lifestyle 
habits; and other chemical and metabolic conditions affecting the mouth. When mercury vapors 
are inhaled, most of the mercury, or about 80 percent, enters the bloodstream directly through the 
lungs and then rapidly deposits preferentially ill the brain and kidneys as well as other parIs of 
the body. 
, U.S. Food and Drug Administration website. 
http://www .fda.gov/mediealdeviees/produetsandmedicalproeedures/ dentalproduets/ dentalamal gam/nem I 71 094.hlm 


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Safer, highly effective, and durable alternatives to mercury-based dell tal fillings exist. 
This bill prohibits the use of mercury in dental amalgam fillings to protect the health of the 
people and the environment. 
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SIXTEENTH CONGRESS UF THE REPUBLIC 
) 
OF THE PHILJPPINES 
) 
Second Regular Session 
) 
'14 
JUL 23 All :07 
Introduced by Senator M iriall1 Defensor Santiago 
Be it enacted by the Senate and the House of Representatives of the l'hilippines in 
Congress assembled: 
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~Acr 
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PROHIBITING THE USE OF MERCURY IN DENTAL AMALGAM FILLINGS 
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SECTION 1. Short Title. - This Act shall be known as the "Mercury in Dental Fillings 
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Prohibition Act." 
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SECTION 2. Declaration of Policy. - It· is the policy of the State to promote the general 
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welfare of the people and protect the environment. 
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SECTION 3. Prohibition on the Use of Mercury in Dental Amalgaln Fillings. - Effective 
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1 Janualy 2016, the nse of mercury in dental anlalgam fillings is hereby prohibited. 
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Any person, corporation, partnership, association, or any such entity fOLlI1d to have used 
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mercury in the manufacture or production of dental amalgalll fillings, or to have sold, distributed, 
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transported, or used in any dental or medical procedures dental amalgam fillings containing 
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mercury shall be fined not less than Twenty Thousand Pesos (P20,000.00) but not more than One 
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Hundred Thousand Pesos (P I 00,000.00) for each violation. 
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SECTION 4. implementing Rules and Regulations. - Within ninety (90) days from the 
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effectivity of this Act, the Secretary of Health shall promulgate the implementing rules a11d 
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regulations necessary to carry out the provisions of this Act. 
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SECTION 5. Separability Clause.' If any provision or part hereof is held invalid or 
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unconstitutional, the remainder of the law 01' the provision not otherwise affected shall remain 
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valid and subsisting. 
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SECTION 6. Repealing Clause . ... Any law, presidential decree 01' issuance, executive 
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order, letter of instruction, administrative order, rule, or regulation contrary to or inconsistent 
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with the provisions of this Act is hereby repealed, modified, or amended accordingly. 
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SECTION 7. Fiffeclivity Clause. ~ This Act shall take effect fifteen (15) days after its 
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publication in at least two (2) newspapers of general circulation. 
Approved, 
/jab7-2J-2014 
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