N.Y. Comp. Codes R. & Regs. Tit. 6 §§ 374-4.1

Current through Register Vol. 46, No. 45, November 2, 2024

Section 374-4.1 - General requirements

(a)Purpose.

This Subpart establishes requirements for dental facilities concerning the use and possession of elemental mercury and for the proper management of dental amalgam waste and elemental mercury waste through recycling.

(b)Applicability.

This Subpart shall apply to any dental facility where dental amalgam is applied, altered, maintained, removed or disposed; where dental amalgam waste is generated; or where elemental mercury has been used or is possessed by dentists licensed or otherwise authorized to practice dentistry under article 133 of the New York State Education Law.

(c)Definitions.

(1)Amalgam separator means a type of dental equipment designed to remove dental amalgam particles from the wastewater of a dental facility and meeting the standards specified in section 374-4.2(a) of this Subpart.

(2)Dental amalgam means an alloy which contains mercury and other metals used in the practice of dentistry.

(3)Dental facility means any institution, clinic, office or other location where the practice of dentistry is performed.

(4)Dental amalgam waste means waste from a dental facility containing:

(i) dental amalgam that has been in contact with the patient including, but not limited to: extracted teeth with dental amalgam restorations, carving scrap collected at chair-side, dental amalgam captured by chair-side traps, vacuum pump filters, amalgam separators or other dental amalgam capture devices;

(ii) dental amalgam that has not been in contact with the patient including, but not limited to: excess dental amalgam mix and the used pre-encapsulated dental amalgam capsules remaining at the end of a dental procedure; and

(iii) dental amalgam that may have accumulated in the plumbing system of a dental facility.

(5)Elemental mercury means a heavy, silvery-white metal that is liquid at room temperature and is represented by the chemical symbol Hg with an atomic number of 80 and an atomic mass of 200.59.

(6)Large dental facility means an institution which houses 50 or more dental chairs.

(7)Practice of dentistry means the practice of dentistry as defined in section 6601 of the New York State Education Law.

N.Y. Comp. Codes R. & Regs. Tit. 6 §§ 374-4.1

Amended New York State Register March 4, 2020/Volume XLII, Issue 09, eff. 4/18/2020