Environmental Concerns
When our office was in the planning stages
in 1994, we understood that in Europe, practices were mandated to control
the amount of
mercury they put out into the environment. Extensive research
pointed us in the direction of one company in America, DRNA. We
have installed in our office a mechanism by which we recapture
mercury that otherwise would be put out into the environment. While
most offices have traps at each chair to capture debris, ours is
one of a handful of offices (as of 10/2001) that:
-
Do not use any mercury in the fillings we place. Did
you know that the silver fillings in your mouth have more mercury
(>50%)
than silver? We do not generate any mercury waste from the fillings
we place.
-
When we drill your old mercury fillings out, the large pieces
that get caught in our drains are sent to Federally regulated mercury
recycling facilities. We would wager that far less than 1% of
all practices in the country are this concerned. Most would simply
place it in the garbage, and allow it to enter the ground at garbage
dumps and landfills.
-
Our Bulldog Separator then takes the finest particles which
get through all traps and drains, and takes the Mercury out of the
waste water, before it gets to the sewer system. Last year, we recycled
rather than polluted more than 3 pounds of mercury whose particle
size
was smaller than that which could become trapped in a drain filter.
-
Separate all the lead foil from X-rays, and rather than discarding
it, recycle the lead separate from all other waste product.
-
Recycle all X-ray fixer, rather than causing extra pollution
by pouring it down the drain as most offices do. Prides itself on
the
fact that whatever we can recycle, e.g. aluminum cans, plastic, newsprint,
we do.
None of these procedures are mandated by the federal government,
as yet. Slowly but surely, it is coming. We know our patients
appreciate our environmental concerns.
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