Effective today, new Minamata Convention amendment will protect children from amalgam use
Dear Friends,
The Children’s Amendment to the amalgam reduction requirement of the Minamata Convention enters
into force today, 24 June 2022!
At the 4th Conference of the Parties in Indonesia last March, our powerhouse coalition, the World
Alliance for Mercury-Free Dentistry, succeeded in gaining protection from dental amalgam for the
most vulnerable consumers. We won the Children’s Amendment, which requires that Parties “Exclude
or not allow, by taking measures as appropriate, or recommend against the use of dental amalgam for
the dental treatment of deciduous teeth, of patients under 15 years and of pregnant and
breastfeeding women…”
Today, that amendment goes into effect. From this date forward, all of the 137 nations who are
Parties to the treaty (except a handful called “opt-in” parties) must take affirmative steps –
ranging from recommendations to complete abolition – to end amalgam use for children, pregnant
women, and breastfeeding mothers. We have succeeded in shifting the Minamata Convention’s emphasis
on phasing down amalgam use to phasing it out, starting with the populations most susceptible to
the neurotoxic effects of mercury.
Now our worldwide team is putting the heat on governments everywhere to fully
The children of the world win!
https://mail.aol.com/webm
enforce the Children’s Amendment. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued a safety
communication cautioning against amalgam use for high-risk populations, including children and most
women of childbearing age. But there’s still work to do, as this revealing recent article
explains…
“…we know that many government programs, including Medicaid and the Indian Health Service,
continue to place mercury fillings in children’s mouths—in defiance of the FDA’s warnings.”
We will not let any country – including the United States – take a pass on protecting everybody,
especially our children, from dental mercury exposure.
Charlie
24 June 2022
Charles G. Brown
National Counsel, Consumers for Dental Choice President, World Alliance for Mercury-Free Dentistry
New Address: 727 15th St. NW, Suite 701, Washington, DC 20005 USA Phone: 202-544-6333
www.ToxicTeeth.org