Mercury fillings are taking a bite out of British wildlife and river health

30 October 2025

Nature groups are warning that mercury fillings should be banned across Great Britain. [1]

The call comes as new analysis of official Environment Agency data by The Rivers Trust and Wildlife and Countryside Link reveals that almost all fish and mussels tested in English rivers and coastal waters (over 98%) are found to exceed proposed safety levels for mercury contamination. [2] More than half of fish and mussels (52.5%) are found to have more than 5 times the proposed safe amount of mercury.

Mercury contamination from fillings contributes to river pollution primarily through air-borne pollution from crematoria depositing onto land, where it can wash off into rivers. Crematoria emissions are the second biggest mercury polluter in the UK, making up around 15% of mercury air and water pollution. [3] On top of this, wear and tear of fillings washes down household drains, and some waste escapes dentist surgeries, which means the amount of mercury pollution from fillings will be even higher. [4] A ban on mercury fillings would therefore significantly reduce mercury pollution.

Britain has fallen drastically behind other countries on mercury fillings – which is rapidly becoming an outdated dental measure. 43 countries worldwide have banned mercury dental amalgam. [5] Great Britain is one of only a few non-EU European countries not to have banned mercury fillings, with an EU ban also in place. And there is an inequality within the UK on mercury fillings, as Northern Ireland is also banning the substance, with the ban coming into effect in 2034.

Richard Benwell, CEO of Wildlife and Countryside Link, said: “The Government has said cleaning up our rivers is a top priority and that’s something communities up and down the country want and need. Banning mercury dental amalgam is an easy and cost-effective way to significantly cut mercury pollution, helping to make our struggling waters cleaner and boost declining British wildlife. A global deal will be on the table in November, we need the UK to stop dragging its heels on chemical protections and sign on the dotted line to ban mercury fillings.”Dr Rob Collins, Director of policy and science at the Rivers Trust, said: “Mercury can have really detrimental impacts upon wildlife and is known to build up in the food chain affecting species from fish and otters to buzzards. With almost all fish in English rivers and coastal waters over proposed safety levels for mercury, the Government needs to speed up action on mercury pollution.”

Mercury fillings are already banned for pregnant women and children in the UK, due to developmental health concerns, and environment organisations want a common sense extension to a full ban of this harmful metal in fillings. The argument is often used that eradicating mercury fillings would add to NHS and customer costs. But there is evidence in other countries where bans have come into force - such as Germany - that this can and has been done with only fractional cost increases, as other low use materials and composites have replaced metal fillings. [6]

The UK committed in its 25 Year Environment Plan to reduce land-based emissions of mercury to air and water by 50% by 2030. Banning mercury dental amalgam would go a long way towards meeting this commitment.

There are global talks on mercury pollution (The Minamata Convention) taking place from the third to the seventh of November 2025. This convention of parties (created in 2017 - Now COP-6) aims to control and reduce releases of mercury emissions into the environment and is where the UK 50% mercury pollution reduction commitment comes from. At the next convention this November African nations, including Botswana and Burkina Faso, are pushing at the Convention for a global phase-out of amalgam by 2030. Nature groups are urging Defra, which will be sending the UK’s representative to the convention, to back this proposal and ban mercury dental amalgam across Britain from 2030 (and bring forward the Northern Ireland ban to 2030 from 2034).




Notes:

Environmental and health groups that are supporting calls to ban dental amalgam in Great Britain include: European Network for Environmental Medicine,World Alliance for Mercury-Free Dentistry, Wildlife & Countryside Link, Water UK, CHEM Trust Friends of the Earth England, Wales and NI, Wen (Women’s Environmental Network), the Hazards Campaign, the Alliance for Natural Health,The Rivers Trust

Rivers Trust and Wildlife and Countryside Link analysed Environment Agency biota data on mercury contamination in fish and mussels from 2019-2022 (there is no data available after 2022). This compare mercury contamination levels to a proposed EU mercury Environmental Quality Standard (EQS). What this analysis shows is that for the 120 samples where there was chemical biota analysis between 2019-2022 is:

The Environment Agency’s mercury environmental data report (2021) shows that around 3969kg of air and direct water mercury pollution occurs annually. Almost twice as much mercury is released to air (2703 kg) compared with reported direct releases to water (1266 kg). But air-borne pollution also ends up in our rivers via rain and run-off. Fuel combustion activities contribute around 2250 kg of mercury air pollution annually - This includes power stations contributing 846 kg, domestic combustion 194 kg, road transport 228 kg and cement – non-decarbonising 140 kg. Crematoria produce 593 kg of mercury air pollution annually in the UK (this makes up around 15% of all mercury emissions into air and water)

Wear and tear and waste issues from amalgam are acknowledged, though not quantified, in p 14 of the Environment Agency’s 2021 mercury data report.

See information here on all the countries which have banned mercury dental amalgam or removed it from public programs: Updated: Global Dental Amalgam Tracker | EnvMed Network

In Poland replacement fillings include: Glass ionomer cements, high density glass ionomer cements and resin-reinforced glass ionomer cements.In the Czech Republic replacement fillings will include by 2026:Single-layer Photo-Composites. In Germany replacement fillings include: alternative self-adhesive materials and bulk fill Composites in exceptional cases.The reimbursement fees for basic fillings in the German public health services were only marginally increased:

Source: European Network for Environmental Medicine