Amount of Mercury Vapor in Air of Dental Offices and Laboratories

Abstract
The amt. of mercury vapor present in 50 dental operating rooms, dental laboratories and commercial dental laboratories was detd. by means of a General Electric Hg vapor detector of the instantaneous type. The vol. of Hg vapor was so low that interpolation on a calibration curve in ppm. of Hg was not practicable. Instead, meter readings were used, comparing them with the meter reading of a min. toxic amt. of Hg vapor, namely 50. The avg. finding for dental operating rooms was 3.2, with a range of from 0-12. Laboratories associated with dental offices averaged 4.1, and ranged from 2 to 6. Commercial laboratories averaged 8.6. The authors conclude that the amt. of Hg vapor in the avg. dental office or laboratory is not toxic.