At the fourth Conference of the Parties to the Minamata Convention on Mercury, more than 130 nations unanimously agreed to an amendment requiring countries to protect vulnerable populations from dental amalgam use.
The conference took place March 26, according to an April 1 news release.
Amalgam contains a mix of metals, including liquid mercury and a powdered alloy made of silver, tin and copper. Fifty percent of it is mercury.
"Dentists must stop placing amalgam in children and in young women — now," Charlie Brown, president of the World Alliance for Mercury-Free Dentistry, said. "This new amendment represents a worldwide consensus that dental amalgam is not safe for children and other vulnerable populations — it is not safe in their mouths and it is not safe in their environment."