GREAT NEWS... Sweden has officially banned all mercury including the use of mercury containing amalgam fillings. Please see below for the official press release. This will hopefully speed up the US FDA to seriously re-consider the re-certification of amalgam as a safe medical device for use...
Subject: Sweden bans amalgam effective June 1 2009
A press release from the Swedish Ministry of Environment follows.
http://www.sweden.gov.se/sb/d/11459/a/118550
Press release 15 January 2009
Ministry of the Environment
Government bans all use of mercury in Sweden
The Government today decided to introduce a blanket ban on mercury. The ban
means that the use of dental amalgam in fillings will cease and that it will
no longer be permitted to place products containing mercury on the Swedish
market.
"Sweden is now leading the way in removing and protecting the environment
from mercury, which is non-degradable. The ban is a strong signal to other
countries and a Swedish contribution to EU and UN aims to reduce mercury use
and emissions," says Minister for the Environment Andreas Carlgren.
The Government's decision means that products containing mercury may not be
placed on the Swedish market. In practice this means that alternative
techniques will have to be used in dental care, chemical analysis and the
chloralkali industry. The Swedish Chemicals Agency will be authorised to
issue regulations on exceptions or grant exemptions in individual cases.
In connection with the Government's decision, waste containing mercury will
be disposed of in deep geological repositories in other EU countries. The
Swedish market for hazardous waste is small. Last spring, a government
inquiry established that there are existing repositories for waste
containing mercury in, for example, Germany that more than adequately meet
the safety requirements on which Swedish legislation is based. Creating a
new Swedish repository would be around 15 times more expensive than
depositing waste in existing facilities in the EU. The bodies consulted on
this matter shared the inquirys conclusions.
"By using common solutions and almost forty years of experience of storing
mercury in the EU, we are not lowering safety standards. The waste will be
transported to a deep geological repository with high safety standards. In
accordance with the polluter pays principle, the owners of the waste will be
responsible for ensuring that disposal in a repository is arranged and
paying for it," says Mr Carlgren.
The disposal possibilities in other EU countries provide better incentives
for the desired development of safe, large-scale technologies to stabilise
waste containing mercury.
Since the beginning of the 1990s there has been a ban in Sweden on the
manufacture and sale of certain products containing mercury, including
thermometers and other measuring devices and electronic components.
The new regulations enter into force on 1 June 2009.
Contact
Mattias Johansson
Press Secretary to Andreas Carlgren
work +46 8 405 22 69
cell +46 70 950 22 45
email to Mattias Johansson, via the Senior registry clerk
Jerker Forsell
Desk Officer
+46 8 405 39 71
Anna Sanell
Desk Officer
+46 8 405 21 20
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