Great Lakes Binational Toxics Strategy
Stakeholders Forum - Chicago, Illinois

November 30, 2004
Welcome and Introductions 

Danny Epstein, Environmental Protection Branch, Environment Canada (EC), and Gary Gulezian, Director Great Lakes National Program Office, United States Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA), welcomed all participants to the Great Lakes Binational Toxics Strategy (GLBTS) Stakeholder Forum. Danny thanked all GLBTS workgroup leaders and coordinators from both Canada and the US for providing leadership to the GLBTS. Gary similarly thanked the staff of Environment Canada and US EPA, as well as stakeholders, for their cooperative efforts and level of respect while working together over the past several years. Gary announced that later in the week there was going to be a meeting in Chicago to kick off the Great Lakes Regional Collaboration (GLRC). Regional leaders were going to gather to sign the Great Lakes Declaration, an agreement to develop a strategy to further protect and restore the Great Lakes. Gary also announced the availability of the draft 2004 GLBTS Progress Report at the back of the room and on the Internet at http://www.epa.gov/glnpo/bns/.

Keynote Address

Dr. Dan Meyer of the American Dental Association (ADA) provided the keynote address. The ADA is the largest professional association for dentistry in the world, with over 140,000 members in the United States, representing approximately 72 percent of all active dentists. He noted the ADA has Canadian members as well. Dr. Meyer said the ADA has been scientifically evaluating dental products for over 100 years. Dentists and the public have long recognized the ADA Seal of Acceptance as a symbol of a dental product's safety and effectiveness.

With its headquarters in Chicago, Dr. Meyer said that ADA works closely with US EPA Region 5 along with national and local groups on environmental issues, such as the impact of dental amalgam on the environment. According to Dr. Meyer, elimination of dental amalgam as source of mercury would have a negligible impact on surface waters; however ADA is working with the EPA to develop better ways to recycle dental amalgam waste so it does not reach publicly owned treatment works (POTWs) and landfills. In addition, Dr. Meyer described how the ADA educates and encourages dentists regarding Best Management Practices (BMPs) for dental amalgam waste.

To promote these practices, Dr. Meyer indicated the ADA produced and distributed a brochure and poster to active dentists in the United States (not just ADA members) on BMPs for amalgam waste. Furthermore, in partnership with the Naval Institute for Dental and Biomedical Research, and partly through a grant from the EPA, the ADA developed an educational video on BMPs for dentists and their staff. The video was distributed by the ADA to state and local dental societies for use by dentists nationwide.

Dr. Meyer stated the key component to BMPs is recycling. Dental amalgam can be prevented from entering a waste stream by the use of vacuum pump filters. Dr. Meyer indicated that the ADA is encouraging dentists to install vacuum pump filters in their offices. Material captured in the filters can then be sent to a recycler. Dr. Meyer stated that non-contact amalgam, or the excess leftover mix after the dental procedure, is the easiest to recycle. Contact amalgam comes in contact with the patients’ fluids, yet can still be collected by traps or filters. Dr. Meyer stated that the system in place to recycle amalgam works better in some regions than in others. Noting that, Dr. Meyer indicated the ADA is working with EPA to develop a uniform system of recycling waste amalgam. The system will cover what may be recycled as well as how it should be collected and shipped. 

Dr. Meyer then went on to discuss separation technologies that remove dental amalgam in addition to filters and traps. With the installation of an amalgam separator, greater than 99 percent of amalgam waste can be captured. An International Organization for Standardization (ISO) standard exists for amalgam separators. He said the ADA evaluated the amalgam removal efficiency for amalgam separators according to the ISO standard. The various types of amalgam separators evaluated include sedimentation, filtration, chemical removal, centrifugation, and combinations of removal technologies.

In response to a question from the audience, Dr. Meyer stated that some dentists do not belong to such organizations as the ADA. Members are required to participate in various programs, and membership can be expensive. He noted there are alternative societies such as the Academy of General Dentistry, but ADA is by far the biggest professional association for dentistry.

Reporting on the Strategy

Workgroup co-chairs from each of the active substance workgroups presented information on the status of the GLBTS with respect to the challenge goals.  Tony Martig (EPA) reported on the PCB challenge, Steve Rosenthal (EPA) reported on the B(a)P/HCB challenge, Bob Krauel (EC) reported on the mercury challenge, and Anita Wong (EC) provided an update on the dioxin/furan challenge.

In addition to providing a substance report update, Anita Wong provided an update on the draft Dioxins/Furans Management Assessment, while Frank Anscombe (EPA) summarized the environmental and management findings of the draft OCS Management Assessment. The presentations given are expected to be made available on the Internet at http://www.epa.gov/glnpo/bns/. 

Plenary Closing

The plenary session was followed by workgroup break‑out sessions for mercury, PCBs, dioxins/furans, and HCB/B(a)P. 

Next Meeting

The date for the next GLBTS Stakeholder Forum is scheduled for May 17, 2005, in Toronto, Ontario.  

Attendees