Amalgam use and mercury emission in the Netherlands

An overview is presented of the emission of mercury to the environment by restoring teeth with amalgam, extraction, replacement of amalgam, and the final phase of teeth. Important input data were the trade figures of amalgam. The emission of mercury from amalgam fillings are characterized by diffuse spreading. Many small sources are together a substantial source of the leakage of mercury to the environment. Amalgam adhering to cotton-wool and in extracted teeth deliver a relevant contribution to the mercury load in municipal waste. The total mercury emission from dental amalgam to the environment in the Netherlands is at the estimate 500 kg a year, with a worst case maximum of 935 kg.