State Government

Bills, Actions and Ordinances (passed and/or introduced)

• Alabama
  Debate Rages Over Safety of Mercury Fillings
  The Birmingham News - March 22, 2004
  A legislative committee in Montgomery killed a bill in the Alabama House of Representatives which would have prohibited dentists from giving children and pregnant women mercury dental fillings...
  
  
• Arizona
  • Mercury-in-dental-fillings controversy: Picketers at Arizona Dental Association - April 28, 2003:
  • Dentist the Menace -- The ADA may not agree, but Charlie Brown says your fillings are killing you... New Times, Arizona - April 10, 2003
  • Bill Would Ban Mercury Fillings In Some Dental Patients:
    The Arizona Republic - March 24, 2003
    Co-sponsor Rep. Johnson says: "Mercury, especially in the mouths of children, nursing mothers and pregnant women, is very, very dangerous."
  • "Protect The Children News Conference" Arizona Bill to Ban Mercury Fillings for Children - March 19, 2003(PDF document)
  • If passed, S.B. 1146 sponsored by Rep. Johnson & Rep. Hershberger would require informed consent for mercury fillings for children, pregnant women, and nursing mothers.
• California
  
  • Our petition to Cal-OSHA to ban mercury fillings to protect dental professionals & workers, especially young women & unborn babies. Features pix of Victoria DaCosta and Kevin Biggers testifying - Cal-OSHA Reporter, March 2008.
  • PROPOSITION 65 WARNING: Dental Amalgam, used in many dental fillings, causes exposure to mercury, a chemical known to the state of California to cause birth defects or other reproductive harm...
  • Consumer Friendly Fact Sheet:
    The Facts About Dental Amalgam, 2004 version
  
  DENTAL BOARD
  • Burton-Watson Subcommittee on Human Rights and Wellness Hearing: "California's Compliance with Dental Amalgam Disclosure Policies"
    "THE ONCE PROUD PROFESSION OF HEALERS HAS DEGENERATED TO LOBBYISTS AND LIARS", commentary by David Kennedy, DDS - Jan. 26, 2004, Los Angeles
  • Bay Area News Conference Follows Congressional Committee in Attacking Dental Board for "Stonewalling on Mercury Fillings" - January 27, 2004
  • U.S. Congressman Dan Burton and Diane Watson call for hearing "California's Compliance with Dental Amalgam Disclosure Policies" - January 23, 2004
  • "Stop the cover-up - Do not re-appoint Dr. Terlet to the CA Dental Board" Please take a moment to write Gov. Schwarzenegger - December, 2003
  • Letter to Alan Kaye, DDS, Pres. of Dental Board of California - December 22, 2003
  • "Dental Board Sued Over Fillings" L.A. Press - December 9, 2003
  • "Mercury Foes Sue State Dental Board" Orange County Register - December 10, 2003
  • Why Consumers For Dental Choice Sued The California Dental Board Charlie Brown - December, 2003
  • California Dental Board To Vote On Mercury Fillings Fact Sheet - July 11, 2003
  • The Mercury-Free Dentistry Movement...Saving North America!
    Opinion by Consumer Advocate Tim Bolen - July 3rd, 2003
  • State Dental Board Officer Picketed in Beverly Hills, Asked to Resign: Dentist Leads fight to cover-Up Mercury in Fillings.
  • CD Dental Board Backs Down, Vocal Protests - A Movie Action film
  • Davis Administration Intercedes: Schedules Meeting with Anti-Mercury Consumers After Dental Board Cancels Meeting Consumers.
  • CDC's Petition Forces California Dental Board to Abandon Voting on Materials Fact Sheet, Charlie Brown 7/23/2001
  • Governor Davis appoints mercury-free dentist Chet Yokoyama to the California Dental Board, Charlie Brown 3/22/2001
  
  CA NEWS
  • An unlikely cause of pollution in bay: dentists
    S.F. moves to stop mercury in fillings from heading for sewage treatment, San Francisco Chronicle - June 30, 2004
  • CALIFORNIA A.B.999 HEADED FOR GOVERNORS SIGNATURE. - September 8, 2003
  • SAN FRANCISCO COMMISSION ON THE ENVIRONMENT MANDATES AMALGAM SEPARATORS - July 9, 2003
    Kudos to the San Francisco Commission on the Environment. On July 9, the Commission mandated that all dentists must install amalgam separators by the end of 2003.
  • A VICTORY AFTER 11 YEAR STANDOFF
  • Mercury in Dental Filling Disclosure and Prohibition Act (Introduced in House) - April 8, 2003
  • Landslide Vote by California Assembly Could End System Forcing Low-Income Children To Have Mercury Fillings
    The California Assembly voted 75 to 1 to direct Medi-Cal (Medicaid) to stop forcing mercury fillings on California's low-income families. The bill by Assemblyman Jerome Horton (D-Los Angeles), A.B. 999, will allow the patient and dentist to choose the filling. Charlie Brown - June, 2003
  • California Judge Approves Landmark Warning on Mercury Use in Dentistry
    San Francisco, Notice to Patients, Proposition 65, January, 2003 (PDF Document)
  • AB #2270 amended in Assembly - April 9, 2002
  • Introduced by Rep. Dickerson on Feb. 20, 2002 would prohibit a dentist on and after Jan. 1, 2007 from providing a patient with a dental filling that contains mercury.
  • Governor Davis signs bills to prohibit against Mercury contamination, Oct. 10, 2001.
  
  
• Connecticut
• Consumers for Dental Choice’s lawsuit seeks ban on mercury fillings in Conn. The Herald - April 1, 2006
• Drop dental fillings made with mercury New Haven Register, Editorial, September 26, 2005
• A Step Forward as we Prepare for Court Fight over AbolitionCharlie Brown - September 15, 2005
• Why Give Dentists A Pass On Mercury? Hartford Courant - September 5, 2005
• Poll: Strong Opposition To Mercury In Fillings Hartford Courant - August 10, 2005
• Zogby Poll Says 81% Want to Ban Mercury Amalgam - July 2005
• Dentist Wins a Round On Mercury Warnings New York Times - July 24, 2005
• Federal Freedom of Speech Case Settled: State of Connecticut Backs Down - Dentist May Discuss Problems with Mercury Fillings
  Press Release - July 13, 2005
• Possible Connecticut Ban On Mercury Uses Could Be National Model InsideEPA - June 21, 2005
  This article originally appeared in InsideEPA.com, Vol. 12, No. 24, June 21, 2005. It is reprinted here with permission of the publisher, Inside Washington Publishers. Copyright 2005. All rights reserved.
• Connecticut Eyes Ban on Some Mercury Uses to Limit Water Pollution InsideEPA - June 13, 2005
  This article originally appeared in InsideEPA.com, Vol. 14, No. 12, June 13, 2005. It is reprinted here with permission of the publisher, Inside Washington Publishers. Copyright 2005. All rights reserved.
• Your Teeth May Be Poisoning Your Water - Environmentalists Urge Connecticut to Ban Use of Dental Mercury Press Release - May 26, 2005
• Connecticut Environment Commissioner to Rule on Whether to Ban Mercury Amalgams Press Release - May 5, 2005
• Cereal Maker To Pull `Spidey' Toys Hartford Courant - July 3, 2004
• Kellogg has come to its spidey-senses Press Release - July 2, 2004
• Crime-fighting Blumenthal goes after superhero, Kellogg's Associated Press - July 1, 2004
• Conn. AG Blasts Kellogg Mercury Batteries Associated Press - June 30, 2004


• Iowa
  
  • Green Light for Mercury-Free Dentistry in Iowa: Dr. Larry Hanus To Return To Practice - August 9, 2007
  • Gag Rule Unconstitutional, Says Attorney General of Iowa (PDF document)
    "Dentists do have a free speech right to voice a personal opinion and to in good faith counsel patients free of unwarranted government intervention."


• Maine
  
  • Kathleen McGee, Director of Maine Toxics Action Coalition, protests backroom deal to exempt mercury fillings from state bill addressing toxins in children’s products - Bangor Daily News, March 28, 2008
  • CDC files antitrust petition against ADA for threat to withdraw dental services from Maine if state bans mercury fillings - April 12, 2005
    Press Release, Letter from the The Maine People’s Alliance and Petition from CDC to the Attorney General of Maine and to the FTC, Boston Regional Office
  • Mercury Amalgam and Other Filling Materials
    (downloadable MS Word document)
    A Patient Education/ Information Brochure Prepared by the Maine Department of Human Services, Bureau of Health
  • Maine Governor Signs Bills to Protect Health, Reduce Pollution
    (NCRM Press Release 5/29/03)
  • Beginning July 1, 2002, a dentist who uses mercury or a mercury amalgam in any dental procedure shall display the poster adopted by the Department of Human Services, Bureau of Health under this section in the public waiting area of that dentist's office and must provide each patient with a copy of the brochure adopted by the bureau under this section.
  
  
• Maryland
  Brown testifies that Maryland dental board should be abolished - and start over
  Our organization is committed to ending the use of mercury in dentistry; accordingly, we petition, appear before, and evaluate dental boards coast to coast. Without equivocation, I can say that the Maryland dental board is one of the three worst dental boards in the nation...
  
  
• Minnesota
  • Sandy Duffy to keynote Health Freedom Conference in St. Paul - October 12, 2007
  • Consumers for Dental Choice Petitions Minnesota Board of Dentistry to end the "Gag Rule." - June 4, 2004
    The petitionseeks the end of the gag rule – which has already been condemned by the state Attorney General – and the start of the process to write a fact sheet as Maine and California have done. The public hearing is June 4, 2004.
    • Dentists Defend use of Mercury Fillings, Minneapolis Star Tribune, by Health reporter, Maura Lerner, June 5, 2004
    • Activist Ratchets Up Debate Over Mercury Dental Fillings, Minneapolis Star Tribune, by Health reporter, Maura Lerner, June 4, 2004
    • Public Forum Set On Mercury Fillings, Minneapolis Star Tribune, by Health reporter, Maura Lerner, June 4, May 26, 2004
    • WCCO Channel 4 TV with Dr. Boyd Haley in Lexington, KY
    • Memorandum of Law: The Minnesota Board of Dentistry Violates Free Speech Rights of Mercury-Free Dentists prepared by Sandy Duffy, Esq., May 29, 2004
    • Letter to the Minnesota Board of Dentistry, May 26, 2004
    • ACLU letter to the Minnesota Board of Dentistry, Sept. 2, 2003
    
    
• New Hampshire
  • New Hampshire 4th state to adopt fact sheet on mercury fillings - February 5, 2007
  • The Mercury In Your Mouth Portland Phoenix - February 27, 2004
    Amalgam fillings may be making you sick, but many dentists don't care. And once you're sick, it's hard to find a doctor to make you better.
    February is Dental Health Month, and Rosie Cronin, New Hamphire activist, wants you to know that not all dentistry is healthful.
  • HB #1251 - Sponsored by Rep. Lynde. As Amended By the Senate. This bill requires dentists and the department of health and human services to provide information on restorative dental materials, and requires the department of environmental services to adopt rules for the disposal of mercury amalgam waste in an environmentally- appropriate manner.
    
    
• New Jersey
  
  • We open third front to ban mercury fillings: the WORKPLACE... - 2008
    
    
• New York
  
  • Hearing on Dental Compliance with Existing Environmental Law - May 31, 2005
  • New York state's Govenor Pataki signs Bill - Mercury poses a risk to our society Wall Street Journal - July 13, 2004
  • Chapter 506, Laws of New York, 2002

    An Act to amend the environmental conservation law, in relation to the use and recycling of elemental mercury and dental amalgam by dentists became a law September 17, 2002, with the approval of the Governor. Passed by a majority vote, three-fifths being present.

    The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows:

    Section 1. The environmental conservation law is amended by adding a new section 27-0926 to read as follows:

    § 27-0926. Use and recycling of elemental mercury and dental amalgam by dentists.

    1. No dentist shall use or possess elemental mercury in the practice of dentistry unless such elemental mercury is contained in appropriate pre-encapsulated capsules specifically designed for the mixing of dental amalgam. All dentists shall recycle any elemental mercury, including any pre-encapsulated mercury capsule waste, and dental amalgam waste generated in their dental practices in accordance with rules and regulations established by the commissioner.

    2. The commissioner is hereby authorized and directed to promulgate rules and regulations necessary for the implementation of this section.

    § 2. This act shall take effect on the one hundred eightieth day after it shall have become a law, provided, however, that effective immediately, the addition, amendment and/or repeal of any rules or regulations necessary for the implementation of this act on its effective date is authorized and directed to be made and completed on or before such effective date.

  
  
• Ohio
  
  • Ohio chapter seeks to end mercury cover-up by state dental board - March, 2007
  • Bill LSC 124 1555 to enact section 4715.191 of the Revised code to establish restrictions on the use of mercury and mercury amalgam fillings in dentistry for individuals 18 and younger, a woman 45 years of age or younger, a pregnant woman and requiring informed consent.
• Oregon
  
  • CDC joins with Oregonians for Life & OR Center for Environmental Health to Crumble Gag Rule in Oregon
    Press Release by Sandy Duffy - May 11, 2005
  • Make Those Smiles Mercury-Free
    by Mary Ann Newell, Letter to The Oregonian, Feb 19, 2004
  • Bill for Informed consent and Limitations on use of Amalgam, Draft Bill 11/11/2002. Relating to the practice of dentistry; adoption of new provisions in ORS Chapter 679. A dentist shall obtain a written Informed Consent from each patient prior to any dental procedure and/or treatment which includes the use of any dental restorative materials containing mercury.


• Pennsylvania
  
  • Philadelphia Fact Sheet adopted, sent to dentists who must give them to each patient - June 2009
  • Freya Koss leads battle to get truthful fact sheet to Philadelphia patients & parents - January 26, 2009
  • Philadelphia Protesters Make the News - Group Wants Strong Warnings on Philadelphia Dental Brochures - May 2008
  • The Pennsylvania Coalition for Mercury-Free Dentistry and Consumers for Dental Choice host press conference to promote Councilwoman Blondell Reynolds Brown's "Informed Consent" mercury dental law - May 2008. Philadelphia is the first city in the nation to pass a law requiring "Informed Consent" before dentists place mercury amalgam fillings.
  • We have a new fact sheet law in Philly – and we play a role in writing it!Freya Koss led the fight to pass this law, written by Councilwoman Blondell Reynolds Brown - February 2008
  • Philadelphia Councilwoman Blondell Reynolds Brown moves her right-to-know bill forward - April 2007
  • Public Rally and Press Conference announcement, Press Advisory, Post Event Coverage, News Articles - October 7, 2005
    When the ADA converged on Philadelphia with 44,000 members and keynote speakers Collin Powell & Katie Curic, the PA Coalition for Mercury-Free Dentistry and its supporters were there to protest against MERCURY DENTAL FILLINGS!
  • Mercury found in many common products The Saucon News - November 24, 2004 (& Bethlehem Apparatus receives DEP permit, Nov. 16, 2004)
  • Advocate of Mercury-Free Dentistry is making Heads Turn in the Philadelphia Area Progressive Health - July 2004
  • WGTW-TV 48 TAKES THE LEAP - The Truth About the Dangers Of Mercury Dental Fillings - April 9, 2004
    Swedish journalist and local advocates speak out about the health risks of amalgam dental fillings and why the public hasn't been told the truth
    
    
  • GIVE A KID A SMILE DAY ISN'T A LAUGHING MATTER!
    On February 6, 2004, the ADA promoted its 2nd national initiative to fill and drill poor kids with mercury.
    • The Dark Side of Free Dental Care
      by Freya Koss, Guest Columnist, Daily Local, 2/4/04
    • Toxic Teeth-Are Mercury Fillings Harming Your Health?
      by C.R Wiliams, Staff Reporter, New Observer, 3/04
      • Read responses to this article, including Dr. Boyd Haley, Dr. William Glaros, Dr. Ralph Wilson, consumer advocates and the PA Dental Association.
    • Pennsylvania Dental Assoc. secretary responds:
      Amalgam fillings and scare tactics
      by Linda K. Himmelberger, DDS, Guest Columnist, Daily Local, 2/5/04
    • Citation Honors Consumers For Dental Choice
      The Council of the City of Philadelphia and President Anna C. Verna, honors Consumers for Dental Choice for their efforts in creating public awareness about the health risks of mercury dental fillings, particularly for disadvantaged children. Feb. 6, 2004.
  
  
• Washington
  Response to WSDA testimony at Washington State Senate's Health & Long Term Care Committee on SB 5066 January 30, 2003.

NOTE: all PDF files require the free Adobe Acrobat Reader. Please use the link below to download the current version: