Mercury Regulations

European Union (Mercury) Regulations, 2018

The European Union (Mercury) Regulations (S.I. No. 533/2018) were introduced to reduce mercury pollution by regulating its use in various sectors, including dentistry.

From January 1st, 2019, all dental facilities that handle dental amalgam must:

• Be equipped with certified amalgam separators.
• Ensure that all amalgam waste is handled and collected by an authorised waste management company

Mercury Regulations

The European Union (Mercury) Regulations (S.I. No. 533 of 2018) provide for the enforcement of the requirements of Regulation (EU) 2017/852.

Due to the wide-ranging nature of the regulations, they are enforced by a number of bodies, including the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Revenue Commissioners, the Dental Council of Ireland, and Local Authorities.

Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council is the designated Competent Authority for monitoring compliance within our functional area. Our responsibilities under Regulation 4.(1) and 4.(2) of S.I. No. 533 of 2018 are to:

• Monitor compliance by operators of dental facilities with the obligation in Article 10(4).
• Monitor compliance by dental practitioners with the obligations in Article 10(6).

The Dental Council of Ireland has drawn up a Code of Practice booklet for the dentistry profession, which can be accessed here

Declaration and Submission

All dental practitioners are required to complete a declaration form to confirm their compliance with these regulations. The form is available here

Waste Disposal

All mercury waste must be disposed of using the services of an authorised waste collector. A public search facility is available here on the National Waste Collection Permit Office website. Please use the European Waste Catalogue (EWC) code 06 04 04* ‘wastes containing mercury’ when searching. It is essential to retain all documentation on file for inspection purposes.