For this episode of Moir’s Environmental Dialogues, Rob talks with Laura Henze Russell. Laura has suffered for twenty years from mercury poisoning that vaporized from dental amalgam (silver cavity fillings) in her teeth. Laura describes regaining her health. She will present 3 articles at her town meeting in Sharon, MA.  Laura’s goals are to learn the health impacts and health disparities associated with mercury poisoning, reduce the hidden river of toxic mercury in people, and improve general health & lower health care costs.

Laura is directing the Hidden River SafeAMER project at the Ocean River Institute. One objective is to pass Massachusett’s Safer Alternatives to Toxic Chemicals bill on Beacon Hill. This will set up a process where use of safer chemicals can be mandated to replace the use of a chemical that is harming people.

This state bill is an entrepreneurial incentive that rewards the development of alternatives to toxic chemicals. By safer alternative chemicals greater market share the production costs are brought down.  With the Safe Alternatives for Toxic Chemical bill, Massachusetts can become a national incubator for less toxic, more eco-friendly chemical compounds, “Safer Chemical Valley.” Click here to listen to the show.