I 
109TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 4011 
To prohibit after 2008 the introduction into interstate commerce of mercury 
intended for use in a dental filling, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
OCTOBER 6, 2005 
Ms. WATSON (for herself, Mr. MICHAUD, and Mr. BURTON of Indiana) intro-
duced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy 
and Commerce 
A BILL 
To prohibit after 2008 the introduction into interstate com-
merce of mercury intended for use in a dental filling, 
and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Mercury in Dental Fill-
ings Disclosure and Prohibition Act’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
(a) GENERAL FINDINGS.—The Congress finds as fol-
lows:
(1) Elemental mercury and mercury compounds 
are known to be toxic and hazardous to human 
health and to the environment. 
(2) Mercury is number three on the 2003 
CERCLA Priority List of Hazardous Substances, 
behind arsenic and lead. 
(3) A dental amalgam, commonly referred to as 
a ‘‘silver filling’’, consists of 42 to 58 percent mer-
cury. 
(4) Consumers may be deceived by the use of 
the term ‘‘silver’’ to describe a dental amalgam, 
which contains substantially more mercury than sil-
ver. 
(5) The American Dental Association estimates 
that the dental industry places approximately 
70,000,000 dental amalgams annually and each den-
tal amalgam may contain 1⁄2 to 3⁄4 of a gram of mer-
cury, depending on the size of the filling. 
(6) 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, composi-
tion, and surface area; the intraoral presence of 
other metals; dietary and lifestyle habits; and other
chemical and metabolic conditions affecting the 
mouth. 
(7) When mercury vapors are inhaled, most of 
the mercury (about 80 percent) enters the blood-
stream directly through the lungs and then rapidly 
deposits preferentially in the brain and kidneys as 
well as other parts of the body. 
(8) Mercury toxicity is a retention toxicity 
(total body burden) that builds up over years of ex-
posure, and is therefore dependent on all sources of 
mercury to which an individual may be exposed. 
(9) Recently funded research by the National 
Institutes of Health has concluded that when inor-
ganic mercury is located in brain tissue, researchers 
are unable to demonstrate an appreciable half-life, 
or decrease, of mercury over time (more than 120 
days). The implications of this conclusion are that 
dental amalgam exposure will permanently increase 
mercury body burden. 
(10) According to the World Health Organiza-
tion, the estimated average daily intake and reten-
tion of mercury from dental amalgam ranges from 
3 to 27 micrograms per day, and is greater than all 
other sources combined.
(11) The California Dental Association, by 
court order, requires postings of warnings about 
mercury fillings in California Dental Offices as of 
March 9, 2003. The warnings read ‘‘NOTICE TO 
PATIENTS: PROPOSITION 65 WARNING: Den-
tal Amalgam, used in many dental fillings, causes 
exposure to mercury, a chemical known to the state 
of California to cause birth defects or other repro-
ductive harm’’. 
(12) United States consumers and parents have 
a right to know, in advance, the risks of placing a 
product containing a substantial amount of mercury 
in their mouths or the mouths of their children. 
(13) The Food and Drug Administration added 
Health Canada warnings regarding mercury in den-
tal amalgam to a consumer update issued on Decem-
ber 31, 2002. 
(14) According to certain scientific studies, 
Health Canada, and the Agency for Toxic Sub-
stances and Disease Registry, children and pregnant 
women are at particular risk for exposure to mer-
cury contained in dental amalgam. 
(15) According to the Agency for Toxic Sub-
stances and Disease Registry, the mercury from 
amalgam passes through the placenta of pregnant
women and through the breast milk of lactating 
women, increasing health risks to both unborn chil-
dren and newborn babies. 
(16) The National Academy of Sciences esti-
mated that ‘‘over 600,000 children are born each 
year at risk for adverse neurodevelopmental effects 
due to in utero exposure to methyl mercury’’. This 
report urged the need to understand the relative 
amount of mercury attributable to dental amalgam 
and to thimerosal in vaccines. 
(17) Studies show that a variety of commonly 
found human intestinal and oral bacteria can meth-
ylate mercury. In this way, the mercury vapor from 
fillings biotransforms into the highly neurotoxic and 
teratogenic methylmercury. 
(18) The use of mercury in any product being 
put into the body is opposed by many health groups, 
such as the American Public Health Association, the 
California Medical Association, and Health Care 
Without Harm. 
(19) Highly effective and durable alternatives to 
mercury-based dental fillings exist, but many pub-
licly and privately financed health plans do not allow 
consumers to choose alternatives to dental amalgam.