Yoshida M, Kishimoto T, Yamamura Y, Tabuse M, Akama Y, Satoh H
Department of Public Health, St. Marianna University School of Medicine.
Nihon Koshu Eisei Zasshi. 1994 Jul;41(7):618-24.
Mercury in dental amalgam filling is released into the atmosphere by cremation and is a suspected source of mercury pollution. The amount of mercury released was measured at three crematoriums. First, mercury levels in the atmosphere were measured. Mercury existed mainly in the gaseous form in ambient air. The concentration of atmospheric mercury at the three crematoriums (S, T and M) ranged from 4.3 to 19.7ng/m3, which was nearly identical to levels in our university surveyed as the control area and also to the levels of atmospheric mercury in general in Japan. Secondly, the amount of mercury release from T crematorium was estimated using official published statistical data in Japan and calculated as follows: sigma[(age specific number of dead that were cremated) x (the number of restored teeth by age category) x (mercury content per amalgam filling (0.6 g))] x (prevalence rate of restoration with amalgam). The amount of mercury released from this crematorium was estimated to be approximately 9.4 kg per year, or a daily release of 26 g into the ambient air. These results indicate that mercury release by cremation is similar to that from other man-made sources.
牙科汞合金填充物中的汞在火化过程中释放到大气中，是汞污染的疑似来源。在三个火葬场测量了汞的释放量。首先，测量了大气中的汞含量。汞在环境空气中主要以气态形式存在。三个火葬场（S、T和M）的大气汞浓度范围为4.3至19.7纳克/立方米，这与作为对照区域的我校调查水平以及日本大气汞的一般水平几乎相同。其次，利用日本官方公布的统计数据估算了T火葬场的汞释放量，计算如下：∑[（按年龄分类的火化死亡人数）×（按年龄类别修复的牙齿数量）×（每个汞合金填充物的汞含量（0.6克））]×（汞合金修复的患病率）。据估计，该火葬场每年释放的汞量约为9.4千克，即每天向环境空气中释放26克。这些结果表明，火化释放的汞与其他人为来源的汞相似。
