Dental Offices	Pollution Sources Prevention Successes Certification Criteria Brochure  Amalgam Management Fixer Management  Specific Pollutant Limitation Waste Hauler/Recycler  List of Contacts Resource Sheets
Dental offices are not considered sources of pollution or hazardous waste by the general public, but they generate small quantities of hazardous wastes, generally heavy metals. In addition many dentists are unaware of their hazardous waste management requirements. Boulder County has approximately 250 dental practices and clinics.		Bulletin: Hazardous Waste Compliance

The City of Boulder’s 75th Street wastewater plant treats wastewater from households, industries, institutions and commercial businesses. The plant’s processes remove solids and organic materials from the incoming wastewater. Treated wastewater is discharged to Boulder Creek. The solids that settle out of the wastewater, called biosolids, are treated and used for improving farmland soil. To protect Boulder Creek’s sensitive ecosystem and maintain biosolids quality, wastewater must meet stringent water quality standards for numerous pollutants, many of which cannot be completely removed by the City’s treatment plant. Metals are of specific concern because they are not degraded but instead settle out into either the biosolids or pass through the plant’s processes into Boulder Creek.

Because metals are of concern to wastewater treatment plants, PACE staff and Boulder Industrial Pretreatment (IPT) staff met with Boulder County dentists to discuss best management practices and certification criteria for dentists. PACE staff started conducting site visits for interested dentists in 1999.

Sources of Pollution

The primary pollutants of concern from dental offices are mercury and silver. Dental office waste streams are listed in the following table.

Sources of Pollution from Dental Offices