IV 
111TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. RES. 648 
Expressing the need for enhanced public awareness of potential health affects 
posed by mercury. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JULY 14, 2009 
Ms. WATSON (for herself, Mr. BURTON of Indiana, Mr. STARK, Mr. GRIJALVA, 
Ms. LORETTA SANCHEZ of California, Ms. LINDA T. SA´NCHEZ of Cali-
fornia, Mr. YARMUTH, Mr. COHEN, Mr. PALLONE, Mr. HIGGINS, Mr. 
CUELLAR, Mr. KUCINICH, Mrs. NAPOLITANO, Ms. EDWARDS of Mary-
land, Mr. HINCHEY, Mr. BACA, Ms. WOOLSEY, Ms. HIRONO, Ms. KAP-
TUR, Mr. DOGGETT, Mr. JACKSON of Illinois, Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia, 
Ms. FUDGE, Ms. EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON of Texas, Ms. CLARKE, Mr. 
POE of Texas, Mr. WESTMORELAND, Mrs. BIGGERT, and Mr. KAGEN) 
submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee 
on Energy and Commerce 
RESOLUTION 
Expressing the need for enhanced public awareness of 
potential health affects posed by mercury. 
Whereas consumers and parents should be aware of the risks 
of placing a product containing a substantial amount of 
mercury in their bodies or the bodies of their children; 
Whereas elemental mercury and mercury compounds are 
known to be toxic and hazardous to human health and 
to the environment; 
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Whereas mercury is third most toxic substance on the 2007 
CERCLA Priority List of Hazardous Substances, behind 
arsenic and lead; 
Whereas dental amalgam, commonly referred to as a ‘‘silver 
filling’’, consists of 42 to 58 percent mercury; 
Whereas consumers may be deceived by the use of the term 
‘‘silver’’ to describe a dental amalgam, which contains 
substantially more mercury than silver; 
Whereas 78 percent of people in the United States do not 
know that mercury is a major component of an amalgam; 
Whereas the mercury contained in a dental amalgam is con-
tinually 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 condi-
tions affecting the mouth; 
Whereas when mercury vapors are inhaled, most of the mer-
cury (about 80 percent) enters the bloodstream directly 
through the lungs and then rapidly deposits preferentially 
in the brain and kidneys as well as other parts of the 
body; 
Whereas according to the World Health Organization, the es-
timated average daily intake and retention of mercury 
from a dental amalgam ranges from 3 to 17 micrograms 
per day, and is greater than all other sources combined; 
Whereas the California Dental Association, by court order, 
requires postings of warnings about mercury fillings in 
California Dental Offices as of March 9, 2003; 
Whereas the warnings read ‘‘NOTICE TO PATIENTS: 
PROPOSITION 65 WARNING: Dental Amalgam, used 
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in many dental fillings, causes exposure to mercury, a 
chemical known to the State of California to cause birth 
defects or other reproductive harm’’; 
Whereas studies show that a variety of commonly found 
human intestinal and oral bacteria can methylate mer-
cury and the mercury vapor from fillings biotransforms 
into 
the 
highly 
neurotoxic 
and 
teratogenic 
methylmercury; 
Whereas according to the Agency for Toxic Substances and 
Disease Registry, the mercury from amalgam passes 
through the placenta of pregnant women and mercury 
may accumulate in higher concentrations in the unborn 
baby than in the mother; 
Whereas absorbed mercury can also pass into breast milk of 
a lactating mother and be ingested by the infant; 
Whereas the National Academy of Sciences estimated that 
‘‘over 600,000 children are born each year at risk for ad-
verse neurodevelopmental effects due to in utero exposure 
to methyl mercury’’; 
Whereas this report urged the need to understand the relative 
amount of mercury attributable to a dental amalgam in 
the body and to Thimerosal in vaccines; 
Whereas mercury is a 50 percent component of Thimerosal, 
a preservative found in vaccines, and is still used in trace 
amounts in influenza vaccines; 
Whereas influenza vaccines are recommended to pregnant 
woman and children; 
Whereas the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the 
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) are advising 
women who may become pregnant, pregnant women, 
nursing mothers, and young children to avoid some types 
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of fish and eat fish and shellfish that are lower in mer-
cury; 
Whereas 50 States, the District of Columbia, and the United 
States Territory of American Samoa have issued 15,422 
fish consumption advisories to their residents due to mer-
cury contamination as found on the Environmental Pro-
tection Agency’s Fish Advisory website; 
Whereas the Food and Drug Administration has issued fish 
consumption advisories due to levels of mercury in com-
mercially-caught fish and, in January 2001, warned preg-
nant woman and young children not to eat certain ma-
rine fish; 
Whereas mercury toxicity is a retention toxicity (total body 
burden) that builds up over years of exposure, and is 
therefore dependent on all sources of mercury to which 
an individual may be exposed; 
Whereas mercury enters the environment from sewage treat-
ment plants, dental run-off, vapors from crematoriums, 
and industrial pollution; 
Whereas mercury wastewater released from dental clinics has 
been shown to fail the Environmental Protection Agen-
cy’s toxicity characteristic leaching procedure and, there-
fore, is regulated as hazardous waste; 
Whereas research from the Naval Dental Research Institute 
indicates that, when discharged to the environment, con-
ditions may be right for waste dental mercury to meth-
ylate, become bioavailable, and subsequently biomagnify 
in fish as methyl mercury, the most toxic form of mer-
cury; 
Whereas a report issued on June 5, 2002, by the Mercury 
Policy Project, the Sierra Club, Health Care Without 
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Harm, Clean Water Action, and the Toxics Action Center 
stated that, because of mercury fillings, dental offices are 
now the leading source of mercury in the Nation’s waste-
water; 
Whereas mercury from a dental amalgam can enter the envi-
ronment during any point of the product’s life-cycle; 
Whereas this includes placement or removal of fillings, 
through bodily excretions, when sewage sludge is inciner-
ated, spread on crops, or dumped in land fills, when 
vapor is released or land filled, when vapor is released di-
rectly from the filling (which increases with brushing, 
chewing, and consuming hot foods or salt), and during 
cremation; 
Whereas currently there are no requirements for mercury 
capture before or during cremation; 
Whereas the Association of Metropolitan Sewerage Agencies 
reported human wastes from individuals with dental 
amalgam fillings to be the most significant source of do-
mestic mercury entering publicly owned treatment works, 
greater than 80 percent of the total contributing factors; 
Whereas mercury use by the dental industry increased from 
2 percent in 1980 to 22 percent of the total use of mer-
cury in the United States in 2001, because of drastic de-
clines in mercury use by other industries over that pe-
riod; 
Whereas amalgam restorations were estimated to be 55 per-
cent of the total mercury product reservoir in 2004 by 
the Environmental Protection Agency, and will therefore 
be a source of environmental contamination into the fu-
ture; 
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Whereas cremation is chosen in approximately 30 percent of 
all deaths, and this percentage is expected to increase 
every year; 
Whereas according to industrial hygiene surveys, 6 to 16 per-
cent of dental offices exceed the exposure levels for air 
mercury permitted by Occupational Safety and Health 
Administration standards; 
Whereas the National Institutes of Health has concluded that 
when inorganic mercury is located in brain tissue, re-
searchers are unable to demonstrate an appreciable half- 
life, or decrease, of mercury over time (more than 120 
days); 
Whereas the implications of this conclusion are that dental 
amalgam exposure will permanently increase mercury 
body burden; 
Whereas 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 Med-
ical Association, and Health Care Without Harm; and 
Whereas as the result of Moms Against Mercury v. von 
Eschenbach, the court ruled that the FDA must classify 
mercury amalgam as a device by July 28, 2009: Now, 
therefore, be it 
Resolved, That the House of Representatives encour-
ages the dissemination of information regarding mercury, 
its uses, and its effects to allow consumers to make in-
formed decisions. 
Æ 
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