18 Asian NGOs Call on Europe to Ban Amalgam Exports & Manufacturing

Lai Cheng September 22, 2023 0 Comments

18 civil society organisations in Asia – including Consumers Association of Penang and Sahabat Alam Malaysia – have sent a letter to the European Union (EU), urging for a ban on amalgam exports and manufacturing.

Amalgam is a primitive, tooth unfriendly holdover of dentistry of an earlier era, an uncontrollable pollutant that poisons fish and vegetables that children eat.

This is their letter to the EU Member of Parliament (MEP) Marlene Mortler on 20 September 2023.

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Dear MEP Mortler,

Asian and Pacific civil society fully supports the European Commission’s recommendation the end of amalgam in Europe as of 1.1.2025. Equally, we endorse the ban on manufacturing and export as of 1.1.2025 – an issue extremely important to us. We are working to end amalgam across Asia – and we call on all nations to cease its exports to this continent.

Across Asia – in ASEAN nations, in East Asia, in South Asia, in Arab States – our governments, dentists, and NGOs are working together to end amalgam use. Likewise, the Mercury-Free Pacific campaign has been launched by the island states. In fact, Philippines, Indonesia, Nepal, and New Caledonia have officially ended the use of amalgam.

Amalgam is a primitive, tooth unfriendly holdover of dentistry of an earlier era, an uncontrollable pollutant that poisons fish and vegetables that children eat; its use must end now. Please stay with your 1.1.2025 date! It will be a great example for the world to follow.

(The following NGOs are signatories to the letter):

Toxics Link, India
BAN Toxics, Philippines
Arab Centre for Environmental Health, Jordan
Environment and Social Development Organisation, Bangladesh
Nexus3, Indonesia
Pacific Hub of World Alliance for Mercury-Free Dentistry, Fiji
Center for Community Health and Injury Prevention Vietnam
National Alliance for Mercury Free Dentistry, India
HEAD, Lebanon
Center for Public Health and Environmental Development, Nepal
Consumers Association of Penang, Malaysia
Land and Human to Advocate Progress, Jordan
Centre for Environmental Justice, Sri Lanka
Ebdaa Foundation for Environment and Sustainable Development, Yemen
Orissa State Volunteers and Social Workers Association, India
The Future We Want Organization, Jordan
Sahabat Alam Malaysia (Friends of the Earth), Malaysia
Asian Center for Environmental Health, Bangladesh