Join Our Action Plan
You can help Say No To Mercury achieve our goals to see a healthier future.
We are an organisation run by volunteers - we do not ask for your money, we ask for your time to contribute to our activism.
Within only a few minutes, you have the ability to educate your friends and family by sharing our content through your social media channels. Please join us on Facebook to stay up to date.
To help us protect human health and the environment - you can contribute by following the steps below.
Goals
Goal 1: Ratify The Minamata Convention
Say No To Mercury is driving the Australian Government to join the other nations like the USA, Canada, Japan, China, Sweden & Norway to ratify the Minamata Convention on mercury.
Ratification will result in much needed introduction of legislation and policy development to ensure a cleaner and healthier Australia for generations to come.
Learn more about the Minamata Convention here.
How You Can Help Goal 1
Whilst Australia is already a signatory to The Minamata Convention on Mercury, reducing mercury pollution seems to be a low priority on the political agenda. Given that Australia has twice the level of mercury pollution compared to the global average, this should be an issue that needs to be addressed and prioritized. Currently we are seeing political procrastination on dealing with the such an important public health and environmental issue which impacts every living creature in our nation and for generations to come.
Ratification of the Minamata Convention on Mercury is necessary for our government to actively participate at the Conference of the Parties in Geneva ensuring that Australia’s interests are represented internationally.
As we are an island continent, our food and water security are threatened by our geographical neighbours who are generating extremely high levels of mercury pollution. Much of the mercury precipitating and being deposited in Australia is coming from mercury emission in other parts of the world. Strong domestic and international action is is needed to protect the health of our citizens and the environment we depend on.
By raising awareness about mercury toxicity and mercury pollution in your personal network, you can help build political pressure to drive meaningful direct action.
Tell Someone Close To You About The Minamata Convention
Contact Your State Health & Environment Ministers
Tell The Federal Government Mercury Pollution Matters
Have a conversation with your friends and family, or share a post on social media. Australia is a wealthy, well-off nation - yet we are embarrassingly falling behind countries like China, Botswana and Ecuador when it comes to protecting the health of our citizens and our natural environment.
Contact your state ministers through social media, or send them an email. Let them know that you want to them to develop a public awareness campaign. Australians deserve to know how being exposed to mercury affects them and what can be done about it.
Australian's care about the health of our environment and we certainly care about the health of our children. There are undisputed moral and financial benefits to reduce mercury pollution by seeing The Minamata Convention ratified in Australia. Let your State Ministers know why they should support this treaty.
We have collected the minister's details for you here.
Addressing the serious problem of mercury exposure and contamination of our nation is within the scope of both the Ministerial portfolios of Health and Environment. Whilst there has been some interest to date, this has not translated into any real action leading into the development of progressive policy for our country.
Tell Josh Frydenberg and Greg Hunt to protect our environment and to protect our health by ratifying The Minamata Convention. Tell Greg Hunt that you want a dental amalgam ban included in the 2020 in the National Oral Health Plan. Contact them through social media, call them or send them an email.
We have collected their details for you here.
Goal 2: Ban Dental Amalgam By 2020
Say No To Mercury is lobbying for the dental industry to phase out the use of mercury amalgam products by 2020.
Learn more about the harmful effects of mercury exposure to human health here and the environment here.
How You Can Help Goal 2
Ever since the invention of dental amalgam almost 200 years ago, there has been controversy concerning its safety. There is a case of institutionalised deception by the dental industry when it comes to the inherent dangers of mercury dental amalgam fillings. It is time to see science shape educational programs and treatment in the dental sector - not holding onto outdated toxic practices from a bygone era.
Other industries readily transition to mercury free alternatives when they are available and the dental health profession should be no exception. The facts are simple - mercury is dangerous and dentistry unnecessarily exposes people and our environment to mercury in the form of dental amalgam, “silver” fillings.
The continued use of mercury to treat decayed teeth is unjustifiable as cost-effective, durable, biocompatible alternatives have been available for sixty years.
Educate Your Friends And Family
Talk To Your Dentist
Stop The Breach Of Informed Consent
Report Any Adverse Reactions To Mercury Dental Amalgam
Most of the public (and dental workers) are uninformed about the dangers of mercury amalgam fillings, which are commonly referred to as 'silver' fillings. Ask your friends and family if they have any 'silver' fillings, and find out if they were aware of the mercury content in dental amalgam.
People are shocked to hear their dentist placed a mercury based filling without informing them of the composition, and the potential health risks that may pose. Make sure you steer them to a mercury safe, SMART certified dentist to have their mercury fillings replaced by a modern composite filling.
Many dentists and dental workers are not aware of the large occupational health risks they are exposed to when working with mercury amalgam fillings. Ask them if they use dental amalgam, and find out if they are aware of the health and environmental problems caused by amalgam.
The International Academy of Oral Medicine & Toxicology has prepared two useful pages which we recommended - 'How To Talk To Your Dentist' and 'Questions For Your Dentist'.
Unfortunately, most patients that are treated by a dentist using dental amalgam are not provided with adequate informed consent about the composition of the material, and the risks that this material poses. Please read this material safety data sheet provided to dentists who purchase dental amalgam from the manufacturer in order to identify if the risks of having an amalgam placed was accurately conveyed to you.
The principle that good communication lies at the heart of good dental practice has long been recognised as it provides patients with information that enables them to make informed decisions about their dental care. All dentists have a duty of care to inform you of the nature of the treatment and the magnitude and/or likelihood of possible harm. Please refer to the ADA Policy to learn more about the consent process.
If you are concerned that the dentist did not comply with the Board's Code of Conduct in seeking your consent to place a mercury amalgam filling, then you may consider reporting your complaint to the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency here.
If you believe you have suffered an adverse reaction to mercury dental amalgam, you should lodge a report with the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) here.
You should also inform your dentist and the the amalgam manufacturer of any adverse reactions following the placement of an amalgam filling. TGA requires all sponsors of dental products and devices to report all complaints received by the manufacturer relating to problems with their product/device.
It is best to find out which amalgam product your dentist uses in order to make the correct complaint. The largest dental amalgam manufacturer in Australia is Southern Dental Industries (SDI) based in Melbourne and the other dental amalgam is imported from Kerr Dental.
Goal 3: Ban Sale Of Recycled Mercury
Say No To Mercury is lobbying for bans on use of recycled mercury to end the mercury product life cycle. In Australia, there is only one mercury recycling plant which is located near Melbourne. Mercury containing waste from Papua New Guinea and New Zealand are being imported for processing at this facility.
Dental mercury captured by separator devices in some dental clinics is being collected to be recovered at CMA Ecocycle along with other mercury containing products such as fluorescent lights. The mercury waste product that is recovered is then sold to Australia’s amalgam manufacturer to make more dental amalgam. This toxic cycle must be broken.
Other countries such as the USA and those in the EU have already implemented policy that is intended to reduce the availability of elemental (metallic) mercury in domestic and international markets. By reducing the supply of elemental mercury in commerce, there will be a reduction of mercury use in both artisanal mining and other commercial purposes globally. The development of designated facilities for safe long-term management and storage of elemental mercury needs to occur.
How You Can Help Goal 3
Safely Dispose Of Your Mercury Waste Products
Drive Education On Mercury Waste
Tell Mercury Recyclers To Do The Right Thing
Tell The Government To Ban All Recovered Mercury
Contact your local council to find out how to dispose of mercury hazardous waste products safely. Please keep in mind that landfill is a major source of mercury contamination - try not to let any mercury products go into landfill in the first place.
Contact your state Environment Minister to request that they develop statewide public awareness about mercury products and create designated collection facilities both for the domestic and commercial sectors.
You can find their contact details here.
The economics that allow businesses to generate profit by allowing the pollution of our environment and perpetuating long term health problems for those exposed to dental mercury need to be changed.
Contact CMA Ecocycle to express your objection to them selling recovered mercury to make dental amalgam.
Contact the Federal Environment Minister Josh Frydenberg and tell him that Australia should not be importing a toxic product like mercury, and we should not tolerate ongoing mercury recovery and recycling for profit any longer.
Get in touch with the Environment Minister here.