Is it Safe? Appartently it is for dentists

Anglen J, Gruninger SE, Chou HN, Weuve J, Turyk ME, Freels S, Stayner LT. Occupational mercury exposure in association with prevalence of multiple sclerosis and tremor among US dentists.
J Am Dent Assoc. 2015;146(9):659-668.e1. doi: 10.1016/j.adaj.2015.05.016.


BACKGROUND:The effects of chronic occupational exposure to elemental mercury (Hg(0)) are largely unknown. The objective was to evaluate the association of occupational Hg(0) exposure with multiple sclerosis (MS) and tremor.
METHODS:The study included 13,906 dentists who attended the American Dental Association's annual meeting over 24 years (1986-2007 and 2011-2012). Participants reported MS and tremor and provided urine specimens for Hg(0) analysis. The authors estimated mean Hg(0) exposures over time and used logistic regression to estimate the associations of 3 Hg(0) exposure measures with MS or tremor.
RESULTS:Among participants, 0.18% reported MS and 1.24% reported tremor. Hg(0) exposure was not associated with MS (odds ratio [OR] per 191 micrograms per liter in cumulative Hg(0) exposure, 0.85; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.39-1.85). Increased prevalent risk of tremor was found with exposure to both urinary Hg(0) exposure (OR, 1.10 [95% CI, 1.00-1.22]) and cumulative Hg(0) exposure among younger dentists (< 51 years; OR, 1.13 [95% CI, 1.05-1.22]).
CONCLUSIONS:Occupational Hg(0) exposure in US dentists decreased over time and now is approaching that of the general population. Our results suggest a positive association between Hg(0) exposure and tremor.
We get this endless sea of risk factors for MS and so I put this paper up as one of the few where there is no association and this is between MS and mercury (used in fillings) in dentists. "Is it safe" come from a scene in the Marathon Man and anyone who wants a phobia of dentists should watch this.

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