Dentists to post new warning signs

Monday December 16, 2002

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) The California Dental Association and an environmental group were expected to sign an agreement in San Francisco Superior Court Monday requiring dentists to post new warning signs in their offices.

The signs, alerting patients that they may be exposed to mercury and cancer-causing chemicals, will be in dentists' offices statewide by early 2003.

As You Sow, a San Francisco environmental group, brought the lawsuit against the California Dental Association under Proposition 65, an initiative that requires businesses and employers to post warnings if their activities might expose customers or employees to substances that are known to harm health.

The settlement calls for all 18,000 members of the association to post signs saying that amalgam contains mercury, a metal that is known ``to cause birth defects or other reproductive harm,'' said Shawn Khorrami, the attorney representing As You Sow.

It will also advise customers that chloroform and methylene chloride sealants used in root canals, fillings, bridges and crown treatments are chemicals known to cause cancer.

The dental association still believes dental amalgams are safe, said group spokeswoman Lori Reed, and relies on federal health agencies for guidance. The Food and Drug Administration states the mercury in dental amalgams poses no health risk.

Jim Dufour, the dental association's attorney, said the suit was resolved amicably. ``Proposition 65 is not about a health risk. It's a consumers' rights law.''

Both New Hampshire and Maine have laws requiring consumer notification and education about the dangers of mercury in dental amalgams. Similar legislation is being discussed in Massachusetts, according to Michael Bender of the Mercury Project.

(Copyright 2002 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)