MORE INFORMATION > Read the complete story (outside link - MassDEP )

[The following is an excerpt from MassDEP e-news. The complete story is available on the Mass. DEP web site (outside link). ]

Since January 2004, when the Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP) and the Massachusetts Dental Society began promoting the installation of mercury amalgam separators in dental offices, mercury levels in wastewater sludge have dropped dramatically.

At the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority (MWRA) treatment plant on Deer Island in Boston Harbor, mercury levels have been cut nearly in half during that time, and are down by as much as three-quarters from a decade ago. The current level of about 2 parts per million (ppm) is 500 percent better than the state requires and 800 percent below U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) standards.

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