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Mercury in dental amalgams may pose health risks to children, fetuses and pregnant women, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration is warning. The FDA issued a statement, on its website Wednesday, about the potential dangers of dental amalgams. As part of a legal settlement reached Monday, the federal agency has agreed to release a new ruling on the safety of dental amalgams in July 2009, and alert consumers about potential related hazards. Consumer advocacy groups, including Moms Against Mercury, called for a ban on the fillings in the U.S. "Dental amalgams contain mercury, which may have neurotoxic effects on the...

ASSOCIATED PRESS WASHINGTON -- Federal health officials are again examining what's known - and what's still to be learned - about the safety of a mercury mixture that's stirred controversy since dentists began using it to fill cavities in the 1800s. A joint panel of outside experts voted Thursday to reject a draft report that concluded that dental fillings used by millions of people are safe. Yet the panel did not go so far as to declare the mercury-laden amalgam a danger, only that more study is needed because of the risk it poses to some groups. "For the general...