New mercury rules for dentistry in Northern Ireland are now set in law. The Control of Mercury (Enforcement) (Amendment) Regulations 2025 were made on 12 November 2025 and take effect on 3 December 2025. They update the 2017 framework so UK regulators and customs can enforce EU-derived restrictions applying in Northern Ireland under the Windsor Framework.

Under Regulation (EU) 2024/1849, published on EUR‑Lex, the EU bans the use of dental amalgam from 1 January 2025 except where a dentist deems it strictly necessary for specific medical needs. Member states that needed more time could use a limited derogation to 30 June 2026. The law also bans exports of amalgam from 1 January 2025 and bans manufacturing and imports from 1 July 2026, with a narrow medical-need carve‑out.

For Northern Ireland, the European Commission’s official Notice C/2024/4675 recognises local circumstances. It confirms that amalgam may continue to be used in dental treatment in Northern Ireland for UK‑resident patients and imported for that purpose until 31 December 2034, provided strict conditions are met. Exports outside the UK remain prohibited from 1 January 2025 and manufacturing is prohibited from 1 July 2026.

Day‑to‑day, dental teams in Northern Ireland should note the British Dental Association’s guidance: amalgam can only be used for patients who live in the UK, practices should verify a UK address, and imports must be commensurate with clinical use. These requirements apply across both Health Service and private care. Practice policies should be updated accordingly.

The statutory instrument ties the Commission Notice into domestic enforcement by listing each new EU measure as a “relevant provision” and enabling customs officials to assist with checks on imports and exports. It also schedules the import prohibition in Northern Ireland to bite after 31 December 2034, aligning with the Commission’s timetable.

Why the shift? Mercury is a potent neurotoxin that accumulates through food chains, with particular risks for unborn children and for fish‑eating birds and mammals. The European Environment Agency reports that tens of thousands of EU surface waters still fail to meet protective mercury standards, underscoring the value of cutting releases at source.

UK data highlight one important pathway: crematoria. Defra’s official indicator shows crematoria emitted around 310 kg of mercury to air in England in 2022, alongside larger industrial sources. These figures explain the parallel policy focus on cremation abatement and on reducing the amount of mercury entering the system in the first place.

Abatement has been building for a decade. Statutory guidance for crematoria requires mercury arrestment so that at least half of UK cremations are abated (with burden‑sharing for sites that cannot install equipment), and new crematoria are expected to fit abatement. The CAMEO scheme underpins this compliance model.

Fresh NGO analysis adds urgency. Using Environment Agency biota data, Wildlife and Countryside Link and The Rivers Trust found that over 98% of fish and mussels tested in English rivers and coastal waters exceeded proposed EU mercury safety levels, with more than half above five times that benchmark. The groups are calling for a Great Britain‑wide phase‑out.

All this lands as the Minamata Convention’s COP6 agrees a global phase‑out date of 2034 for dental amalgam, with the EU noting that the ban on manufacture and trade will apply from 1 January 2035. For Great Britain-where policy remains “phase‑down” rather than a set ban-this next decade is a window to scale prevention, reimburse mercury‑free restorations fairly, and standardise best practice on dental waste and cremation abatement.