Washington The Environmental Protection Agency announced proposed amalgam separator standards for dental offices and said it expects to finalize a rule in September 2015. EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy signed the proposed rule Sept. 23 and submitted it for publication in the Federal Register, a digest of government regulatory activity. The EPA will conduct a public hearing on the proposal Nov. 10 and will accept comments on the proposed rule for 60 days after FR publication. Association policy supports a national rule if certain conditions are met. An EPA press release said the Association also recommends separators and other best management practices for amalgam. Based on a preliminary review, EPAs proposed rule seems to largely parallel the ADAs best management practices but further review is necessary, ADA representatives said. Visit ADA.org for more information on amalgam separators. ADA House of Delegates Resolution 50H-2010 calls on the Association to engage the United States Environmental Protection Agency in a negotiated rulemaking process regarding a national pretreatment standard for dental office wastewater. See also ADA amalgam separator principles following this report. EPA is proposing technology-based pretreatment standards under the Clean Water Act (CWA) for discharges of pollutants into publicly owned treatment works (POTWs) from existing and new dental practices that discharge dental amalgam, said a pre-publication draft of the proposed Effluent Limitations Guidelines and Standards for the Dental Category posted at epa.gov. Dental amalgam contains mercury in a highly concentrated form that is relatively easy to collect and recycle, the EPA said. The proposed rule would require all affected dentists to control mercury discharges to POTWs by reducing their discharge of dental amalgam to a level achievable through the use of the best http://posthandfromik.nm.ru/Hinman-dental-convention.html available technology (amalgam separators) and the use of Best Management Practices, said an EPA summary of the proposed rule, which was also posted at epa.gov. In order to simplify compliance with, and enforcement of the numeric reduction requirements, the proposed rule would allow dentists to demonstrate compliance by installing, operating and maintaining amalgam separators, the EPA said. The proposal also includes a provision by which dental offices that have already installed amalgam separators that do not meet the proposed amalgam removal efficiency would still be considered in compliance with the rule for the life of the amalgam separator. Removing concentrated sources of mercury to POTWs opportunistically, such as through low-cost amalgam separators at dental offices (average annual cost per dental office: $700 [EPA estimate]), is a commonsense solution to managing mercury that would otherwise be released to air, land and water, said EPAs summary of the proposed rule. Twelve states have implemented mandatory programs to reduce dental mercury discharges, and New Mexico has a similar program scheduled for 2015 effectiveness, the 106-page draft proposed rule said: Connecticut, Louisiana, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington. Additionally, at least 19 localities similarly have mandatory dental reduction pretreatment programs, EPA said.
Functionalization of Polycaprolactone Scaffolds with Hyaluronic Acid and β-TCP Facilitates Migration and Osteogenic Differentiation of Human Dental Pulp Stem Cells in vitro