Red River Declarations: Indian Health Service must stop defying FDA and International Treaty

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Aug 08, 2024, 08:00 ET

This press release is issued by Consumers for Dental Choice

FARGO, N.D., Aug. 8, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- A broad array of environmental, Native American, health, and consumer groups issues the Red River Declarations, which demands that the US Indian Health Service stop defying FDA recommendations and international law—and cease using dental amalgam on Native Americans; https://mercuryfreedentistry.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/red-river-declarations-ban-mercury-amalgam-use-on-tribal-lands.pdf . Amalgam, marketed deceptively as silver fillings, is 50% mercury, a neurological and reproductive toxin.

The US Food and Drug Administration recommends that dentists stop placing amalgam in children, in women who are pregnant, breastfeeding or contemplating pregnancy, and in those with neurological or kidney diseases. The Minamata Convention on Mercury (the United States is a party) calls for the end of dental amalgam on children and on pregnant and breastfeeding women. But the Indian Health Service, engaging in what the Red River Declaration calls "callous exploitation of American Indians," continues unabated amalgam use.

"A decade ago, the National Congress of American Indians called for the Indian Health Service to end amalgam use on Tribal Lands," says Charlie Brown of Consumers for Dental Choice, the drafter of the Declarations. "The Indian Health Service must end its contemptuous 'white man knows best' attitude."

"It's important for Indigenous Peoples to understand the compounding impacts of multiple sources of exposure we absorb and pass on to our babies. These exposure sources include mercury-based dental fillings provided by the Indian Health Service," says Andrea Carmen, Executive Director of the International Indian Treaty Council. "Our babies and children pay the highest price. This is so unjust."

"NGOs from the Arctic to the Amazon signed onto the Red River Declaration," says Maria Carcamo of the Latin American Center for Environmental Health. "Governments across the Americas – from Brazil to Mexico to Canada – must stop implanting mercury fillings in American Indians."

"This international declaration is named for the Red River because it is the heart of Indian country," says former North Dakota State Representative Ruth Anna Buffalo. "The signers chose Fargo, the Red River's major US city, as the place for the announcement."

"For Indigenous Peoples, exposure to mercury is a direct threat to our health, culture and future generations," says Rochelle Diver, UN Environmental Treaties Coordinator, International Indian Treaty Council. "It is far past time that HHS and IHS honor their treaties with Native Nations as well as their obligations as under the Minamata Convention on Mercury."

For further information, contact Charles Brown, Consumers for Dental Choice, 202.246.7642

SOURCE Consumers for Dental Choice