The release of mercury from dental amalgam and potential neurotoxicological effects

OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to estimate the amount of mercury released into both air and saliva from fresh and aged, abraded amalgam discs and then investigate neurotoxic effects of inorganic mercury upon sensory neuronal cultures. METHODS: An air-tight chamber was constructed to allow the combined estimation of mercury species released from amalgam pellets. The level released into air and saliva from both freshly packed and aged-abraded amalgam pellets was assessed. Dorsal root ganglia cultures from male CBA mice were exposed to 1 and 10 microM mercuric chloride concentrations. The effects of this were assessed by means of morphology, adhesion, size and immunocytochemistry. RESULTS: The mercury released into air from dry fresh amalgam was low and less than the recommended industrial exposure limit for mercury. However, covering the discs with saliva reduced air-mercury levels by 46-56% and there was a statistically significant difference in the air-mercury levels recorded (p=0.013-0.048). The mercury released into air from dry abraded amalgam was shown to be above the recommended industrial limit. Coating the abraded amalgam discs with saliva reduced the mercury by 66-72% with the levels recorded being significantly lower (p<0.001). The level of total mercury within the saliva was found to be highly variable. Little change was noted in the neuronal cultures treated with 1 microM mercuric chloride. However, the cultures exposed to high level (10 microM) mercuric chloride showed cells that became rounded and clumped together indicating pathological change.CONCLUSIONS: Amalgam placement appears to present minimal mercury exposure risk. To reduce the amount of mercury released into air, however, amalgam should be polished in a moist atmosphere with high volume aspiration. The neurotoxic effect of mercury appears to be related to concentration, as only in the cultures treated with 10 microM mercuric chloride showed striking qualitative and quantitative cellular changes.