Amalgam waste management: issues and answers.
In reviewing U.S. dental amalgam waste management activities, one finds a wide variety of approaches, processes, and results, within which the authors have observed an inconsistency of definitions, measurements, standards, and even of clearly applied goals. As a result, outcomes have varied greatly from community to community. This manuscript attempts to deliver logical options which might prevail even within an atmosphere of differing perspectives. The authors share the belief that successful outcomes are achievable within a collaborative environment of shared learning and cooperative planning. By example, the authors attempt to demonstrate how the joint acceptance of certain definitions and goals has served as a pathway to success in one community's dental waste management project. The goal of this paper is to share tools that may contain some measure of applicability to other similar collaborations.
Westman
J F
JF
oscar2020@aol.com
Tuominen
T
T
D003247:Conservation of Natural Resources; D003723:Dental Amalgam; D003748:Dental Equipment; D003770:Dental Offices; D018057:Dental Waste; D017598:Efficiency, Organizational; D006801:Humans; D017744:Medical Waste Disposal / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence / Q000379:methods / Q000592:standards; D008628:Mercury / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000145:classification; D008910:Minnesota; D009937:Organizational Objectives; D011634:Public Health; D014481:United States; D014877:Water Pollution, Chemical / Q000517:prevention & control; D018508:Water Purification
D018057:Dental Waste; D017744:Medical Waste Disposal; D003723:Dental Amalgam; D008628:Mercury