| Title: |
Best Management Practices for the Handling and Disposal of Dental Amalgam Amongst Dental Practices in the Western Cape Province of South Africa |
Description:
Health and environmental safety concerns regarding elemental mercury in dentistry have surfaced in the international public health community. Increased elemental mercury exposure is largely due to dental amalgam and occupational activities. Best Management Practices (BMP’s) have been developed encouraging safe and best handling, disposal, and waste management practices for dental amalgam and bulk elemental mercury. BMP’s utilize precautionary methods and procedures to substantially reduce the amount of mercury released into the environment.
The on-site storage and use of dental amalgam and bulk elemental mercury could present risk to human health and the environment if BMP’s are not being practiced. South Africa did not have regulatory requirements in place on dental Best Management Practices. South Africa did not have a national agency that regulated dental amalgam recollection and it was unknown as to what occurred with recollected dental amalgam waste. Dentists and other dental personnel may not be exercising best handling, disposal, and waste management practices of dental amalgam. Therefore, the usage, handling, and disposal practices for dental amalgam in South Africa warrants further investigation. This study aimed to contribute to the general knowledge base to establish whether BMP’s for handling, disposal, and waste management of dental amalgam were being employed in dental practices in the Western Cape Province of South Africa. |
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| Date Of Record Creation: |
2013-07-05 03:00:55 (W3C-DTF) |
| Date Of Record Release: |
2013-07-05 03:02:30 (W3C-DTF) |
| Date Last Modified: |
2013-07-05 03:03:01 (W3C-DTF) |