We pride ourselves on being the complete regulatory solution for the dental community as well as the only company in the world accepted to participate in the US Environmental Protection Agency’s (USEPA) Environment Testing Verification Program. 

That’s why we’re focusing this blog post on what exactly goes in our amalgam trap. As you know, amalgam trap disposal is an EPA-regulated reality of the dental industry; one that all dental practitioners must follow in order to keep compliant. Failure to do so could result in fees and getting on the bad side of the EPA. 

The following defines the EPA Amalgam Regulation and should serve as a reminder about how to effectively and accurately use DRNA amalgam traps… 

Proper DRNA Amalgam Trap Disposal

In order to keep compliant and avoid incurring fines, your dental practice needs to properly recycle amalgam traps. Sounds simple, and yet not everyone is up to speed on this strategy defined by the EPA’s Amalgam Regulation.

What does this regulation require?

The EPA Amalgam Regulation States: 

“EPA has concluded that requiring dental offices to remove mercury through relatively low-cost and readily available amalgam separators and BMPs makes sense. Capturing mercury-laden waste where it is created prevents it from being released into the environment. This final rule controls mercury discharges to POTWs by establishing a performance standard for amalgam process wastewater based on the use of amalgam separator technology. The rule also requires dental dischargers to adopt two BMPs, one which prohibits the discharge of waste (‘‘or scrap’’), and the other which prohibits the use of line cleaners that may lead to the dissolution of solid mercury when cleaning chair-side traps and vacuum lines.

What’s more, the EPA Amalgam Regulation requires dental dischargers to adopt two BMPs, one which prohibits the discharge of waste (‘‘or scrap’’), and the other which prohibits the use of line cleaners that may lead to the dissolution of solid mercury when cleaning chair-side traps and vacuum lines.

In other words, amalgam waste needs to be kept separate and disposed of in its own bucket. 

When you remove a tooth containing amalgam and find that it’s time to change out a trap or an evac-u-trap, all of these materials should go in the bucket. 

Under no circumstances should you ever put amalgam in a sharps or other biohazard or medical waste disposal bin.

In addition, you should never rinse out an amalgam trap in order to reuse it. 

Order your DRNA amalgam traps now and contact us with any questions about keeping on top of your traps in a timely fashion!