Congresswoman Watson Addresses Gathering of Dental Mercury Experts

Congresswoman Diane E. Watson (CA-33) participated in a panel of mercury dental experts sponsored by the International Academy of Oral and Medical Toxicology (IAOMT). The panel addressed the environmental and health risks of the use of mercury dental amalgams in dentistry.

Congresswoman Watson, formerly the Chair of the California State Senate's Health and Human Services Committee for seventeen years, said, "The use of mercury in dentistry is an issue that can only be pushed under the rug for so long. The battle we are now in to rid mercury from dentistry reminds me of the fourteen year battle I and others waged in the California State Senate to ban tobacco from the workplace and public places of gathering. Back then, the critics said it couldn't be done. However, over two decades later, we have laws in almost every state banning smoking in public places. Smoking is now outlawed on all domestic and international air travel. But the victory required years of intense public education. We are now in the stage of educating the public about the dangers of the use of mercury in dentistry. We will persevere, and ultimately we will win."