Historical exposure to mercury among Norwegian dental personnel.
OBJECTIVE
Due to public concern in Scandinavian countries about the health situation of dental nurses, the Norwegian Ministry of Labor and Social Inclusion initiated a project to look at previous exposure to metallic mercury and its possible effects on dental personnel. The aims of this part of the study were to: (i) describe Norwegian dental personnel's exposure to mercury during the last 50 years, (ii) develop a model for scoring that reflects the cumulative exposure on an individual basis, and (iii) relate the calculated score to earlier measured levels of mercury in urine.


METHODS
We obtained lists of previous and current dental employees in both the private and public sector and mailed them a questionnaire concerning their working conditions. We received a response from 655 dental nurses and 452 dentists. We also obtained urine mercury levels measured between 1970-1990 for 143 (22%) of the dental nurses and 130 (29%) of the dentists.


RESULTS
The results revealed a widespread exposure to mercury in both the individual exposure score and the measured mercury values in urine. For most respondents, however, the level of exposure to mercury seemed to be low. The use of copper amalgam, which is heated before it is applied, is of particular concern as a significant source of mercury exposure in dental personnel.


CONCLUSIONS
It seems evident that the exposure to mercury among dental personnel varies substantially; this is important to take into account when making exposure assessments for this group of workers.
Svendsen
Kristin
K
Department of Industrial Economics and Technology Management, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, N-7491 Trondheim, Norway. Kristin.svendsen@iot.ntnu.no
Syversen
Tore
T
Melø
Inger
I
Hilt
Bjørn
B
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D003723:Dental Amalgam / Q000032:analysis / Q000506:poisoning; D003727:Dental Auxiliaries; D003815:Dentists; D019538:Health Care Surveys; D006801:Humans; D008628:Mercury / Q000652:urine*; D008630:Mercury Poisoning / Q000652:urine*; D008875:Middle Aged; D009664:Norway / Q000453:epidemiology; D016273:Occupational Exposure / Q000032:analysis*
D003723:Dental Amalgam; D008628:Mercury