Mercury, the main component to dental amalgam, is a notoriously harmful substance, and can affect a person’s health in numerous ways. In fact, a report from the World Health Organization warns, “It may cause harmful effects to the nervous, digestive, respiratory, immune systems and to the kidneys, besides causing lung damage…Recent studies suggest that mercury may have no threshold below which some adverse effects do not occur (Kennedy).” Dangerous levels of mercury are generated in the dental workplace by numerous daily procedures. Many dental assistants do not realize that procedures involving use of an old or new amalgam will expose them to