Mercury Vapor Exposures in Dental Offices

Mercury exposure of different origins among dentists and dental nurses.

“…Most of them have reported levels of airborne mercury below or close to the commonly used air standard of 50 ug Hg/m' for mercury vapor and the proposed biological standard of 50 ug Hg/I for urine, but some studies reported mercury levels much higher than that (3,4,6,9,14). In a study by Naleway et al (13) it was remarked that the urinary mercury levels of dentists in the United States had not significantly decreased during [1975][1976][1977][1978][1979][1980][1981][1982][1983].…”

“…Many other studies performed in dentistry have also concluded that, if proper mercury hygiene is not maintained, high levels of mercury are easily reached (3)(4)(5)(6)(7)(8)(9)(10)(11)(12)(13)(14)(15)(16).…”

Historical exposure to mercury among Norwegian dental personnel

“…Another study from the US incorporating 59 clinics reported that exposure in the breathing zone reached as much as 0.18 mg/m 3 . Approximately 10% of the dentists had exposure levels >0.1 mg/m 3 while 80% had exposure levels <0.01 mg/m 3 (18). The literature refers to the work of Frykholm (19), who performed measurements in Swedish dental clinics before 1970 using direct reading instruments over a period of 25 minutes.…”

Health hazard evaluation report: HETA-84-090-1533, Dental Offices, Wellston, Ohio.

“…20 ug/m3 except for two samples. All values were below the OSHA standard of 100 ug/m3 (as a ceiling value not to be exceeded) 1 contamination were higher in the immediate • Surface readings for mercury vicinity of high mercury use areas. The highest contamination readings were obtained on a, powered vacuum cleaner used to clean the office carpeting.…”