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Liquid waste from dental clinics could be hazardous
DUBAI - Liquid waste from dental clinics being dumped into the public sewage system is putting residents at risk of developing serious health issues and also affecting the environment.
A year-long study done earlier this year to assess the levels of mercury in waste water has concluded that the levels “are more than the accepted universal percentage”, but still less than similar rates in many regional countries and others.
Though the seepage is not life-threatening, it is serious enough to lead to health complications such as impairment of the central nervous system, pulmonary and nephrotic (kidney) damage and impairment of osmoregulatory function, according to the author of the study.
“The public and environment are indirectly exposed to mercury emissions from incinerators and mercury in wastewater from dental clinics,” Dr Sausan Al Kawas, Associate Professor and Head of Oral and Craniofacial Health Sciences Department at Faculty of Dentistry at Sharjah University told Khaleej Times. In the GCC, a third of treated waste water is used to irrigate agricultural land. “Dental amalgam is of a particular concern because almost half of its mass is mercury; a metal that has well documented health risks,” she added.
Additionally, mercury is very mobile in the environment and is known to bio-accumulate in marine organisms like fish and therefore can pose an environmental mercury burden on the entire food chain, she said.
The study titled ‘Quantitative analysis of mercury concentration in the waste water released from dental clinics in UAE’ was done between January 2010 and June 2011 on 38 wastewater samples from 28 public dental clinics in Sharjah and Abu Dhabi.
“The study has shown that the average concentration of Hg (mercury) in all samples was 317.7 microgram per litre. According to Dubai Municipality’s environmental standards, the maximum limit allowed for discharge of mercury-containing waste to the sewerage system is 10 microgram per litre and to land for irrigation is only one microgram per litre,” said Dr Sausan.
“Unless a good scientific treatment method is used, water waste from dental clinics may threaten the environment, human beings, marine life, ecological balance and agricultural crops in particular,” she said.
“European countries, such as Switzerland, Germany, Sweden and Denmark have realised the dangers and taken steps to separate the harmful material.”
Dr Sausan also said that measures must be adopted by dental clinics in the UAE to reduce mercury discharge. “They can use amalgam separators and filters, improve the design of the waste discharge system, or use high pressure water cleaning,” she explained. She also said that no data has been published on mercury burden in wastewater and how to prevent or minimise the hazardous metal from reaching the environment in UAE.
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