Dentists may be flushing mercury down drains

Scores of dentists are feared to be releasing mercury into public sewerage systems because they don’t have equipment to filter the toxic chemical used in fillings.

One in six dentists who applied for public contracts in the past three years failed inspection as they had not installed amalgam separators to remove the mercury from used and excess dental amalgam — the material regularly used to fill cavities.

Documents released under the Freedom of Information Act show health officials are worried the true proportion could be higher as those putting themselves forward for inspection to obtain public contracts would be expected to have higher standards.