Consumers for Dental Choice Needs Your Support for Mercury Treaty

Consumers for Dental Choice

Needs Your Support

for

Mercury Treaty, Round Two

On the world stage, Consumers for Dental Choice has achieved a historic milestone. The first draft of the international treaty on mercury includes five products on the “phase out list”; amalgam is one of them!

As you’ll recall, earlier this year Consumers for Dental Choice organized the World Alliance for Mercury-Free Dentistry. In Stockholm, at the first session to negotiate a world mercury treaty, Charlie Brown led that delegation of consumers and mercury-free dentists. In turn, he was elected president of the new World Alliance. Building a team of leaders from five continents, Charlie’s hard-nosed approach is paying off – for us, and for the children of this world.

Here is how far we’ve come: The United Nations Environmental Programme will convene a meeting of governments, consumer groups, environmental organizations, and dental societies (both pro-mercury and mercury-free) to discuss a phase-down plan for dental amalgam. The meeting will be held on January 24, 2011 – the very first day of the second round of treaty negotiations in Chiba, Japan.

Please help our team get to Japan for the mercury treaty negotiations so we can build on our amazing progress!

At the treaty negotiations, the tough work lies ahead. To keep amalgam on the treaty’s “phase out list,” we must withstand furious lobbying by the World Dental Federation (best described as “an American Dental Association on steroids”). We must fight for specific steps the world can take to reduce, then eliminate, amalgam. If we succeed, we must participate in the third negotiating session where the nuts-and-bolts of the treaty will be determined – and where we must counter the amalgam industry’s frantic push for loopholes.

Last spring, many of you contributed funds so that Charlie, as well as trilingual consumer advocate Anita Vazquez Tibau, could go to the Stockholm session, armed with scientific literature and brochures – in seven different languages. My friends, you made a great investment in the cause of mercury-free dentistry!

This year marked the tragic passing of Sandy Duffy, the board president of this small but effective 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. As her successor, I call for your help, whether you gave last time or not. Charlie Brown is now the world leader of our movement, and it is essential that he takes his seat at the table in Japan. Please contribute via PayPal or checks can be mailed to 316 F St. NE, Suite 210, Washington DC 20002. As always, your donations are tax deductible.

Thank you for your support! And happy holidays!

Warm wishes,
Sue Ann

Sue Ann Taylor
President, Consumers for Dental Choice
President, ZEEL-TV, Atlanta
21 December 2010

P.S. Charlie will be sending you an update about last week’s Food and Drug Administration dental amalgam hearings, where the scientific panel called for a partial ban on dental mercury and consumer labeling.

* link also available at http://www.toxicteeth.org/donate.cfm

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NOTE: LNH continues to support Consumers for Dental Choice and Californians for Green Dentistry with their vision to create safe, healthier dental practices and world environment by eliminating the use of toxic and polluting dental mercury.

OC