Press Releases: 04.28.03
For release Monday, April 28, 2003
For further information:Charlie Brown, 202.822-6307-ofc., 202.246-7642-cell. (counsel, Coalition to Abolish Mercury Dental Fillings)
Professor Jim Adams, 480.965-3316-ofc. (president, Phoenix chap., Autism Society)
Kurt Koenig, 480.831-1294-ofc. (press professional)
Mary Starrett, 602.315-6193-cell. (journalist / advocate)
Picketers concerned about mercury in dental fillings will appear at the Arizona Dental Association (ADA) offices on Tuesday (Apr. 29) at 10:00 am. Their theme is to challenge the ADA to "tell the truth about mercury fillings" and to cease blocking a bill giving disclosure that so-called "silver" fillings are mainly mercury, a toxic substance.
Mercury, which the EPA says causes retardation in children, has been the focus of public attention in fish, in disinfectants, in vaccines, and most recently in dental fillings. A bill by Representative Karen Johnson (now S.B. 1146, as amended) would provide disclosures to consumers of the health risks of mercury fillings. Mercury fillings are a hazardous waste when removed from the mouth.
Among the expected picketers are parents of autistic children. Increasingly, scientists are studying the link between mercury exposure in the mother or the child and autism. These picketers believe dentists should be required to disclose the mercury content of amalgam fillings to pregnant women and other women of child-bearing age.
Among those favoring the bill are Arizona scientists, physicians, and dentists who disagree with the dental association about the health risks of mercury. Endorsers of the bill include the Greater Phoenix chapter of the Autism Society of America, the NAACP, Children for a Safe Environment, and the Holistic Dental Association. The Arizona Republic's Richard de Uriarte, editorializing for the bill, stated: "What's wrong with informed choice?"
Location: Arizona Dental Assoc: 4131 North 36th St., Phoenix (ph 602.957-4777).
pictures from event