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Reuters published an article on April 14, 2008 that stated, “Dental practices may be a source of a dangerous form of mercury contamination in the water supply, a small study suggests.” The article continues to cite the report, mentioning researchers at University of Illinois detected large mercury levels in the wastewater of two dental practices. The article describes the mercury as a chemically altered, toxic substance. Long story short, dentists contribute about 11 lbs of methyl mercury to the environment each year. However, a counter article by Jim Du Molin, The Wealthy Dentist, puts the statistic into perspective. Apparently, coal-fired power plants contribute 50 tons of mercury to the environment annually. Batteries and electrical devices are to blame for most of the mercury poison in the world.

SOURCE: Reuters Report
The Wealthy Dentist Blog