I 
110TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 2101 
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 
MAY 1, 2007 
Ms. WATSON (for herself and Mr. BURTON of Indiana) introduced 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: 
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(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) Dentists purchase 34 tons of mercury per 
year, the Nation’s third largest purchaser of mer-
cury. Dentists place millions of amalgam fillings in 
children each year, even though interchangeable sub-
stitutes of non-toxic materials could also fill those 
cavities. Each amalgam filling contains 1⁄2 to 3⁄4 of 
a gram of mercury. 
(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 intra-oral presence of 
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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) The National Institutes of Health has con-
cluded that when inorganic 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. 
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(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) 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. 
(14) 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 
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amount of mercury attributable to dental amalgam 
and to thimerosal in vaccines. 
(15) 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. 
(16) 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. 
(17) 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. 
(b) ENVIRONMENTAL FINDINGS.—In addition to the 
findings of subsection (a), the Congress finds as follows: 
(1) Mercury wastewater released from dental 
clinics has been shown to fail the Environmental 
Protection Agency’s toxicity characteristic leaching 
procedure and, therefore, is regulated as hazardous 
waste. 
(2) Research from the Naval Dental Research 
Institute indicates that, when discharged to the envi-
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