Initial mercury evaporation from amalgams made with in-containing commercial alloys

This study examined the Hg evaporation behavior during the early setting of amalgams that contain In in the alloy powders. Two different types of commercially available In-containing alloys were tested: an In-particle admixed powder (Indisperse, D) and an In-containing single-composition powder (Indiloy, S). Mercury evaporation from specimens (4 mm in dia, 8 mm tall) was monitored 10 min after trituration to 180 min using a mercury vapor analyzer according to the methods used in a previous study. The amounts released from 10 min to 180 min were compared with the results of our previous study on a single-composition amalgam (Tytin, T) with pure Hg and with Hg-In liquids (5 or 10%). Amalgam S and In-containing T terminated Hg evaporation within 180 min. There was no significant (p > 0.05) difference in the amount released between T amalgam made using pure mercury and D, and between T amalgam made with 5% In-containing mercury and S amalgam. Mercury release from amalgam D was significantly (p < 0.05) higher than from S or both types of In-containing T amalgam. Adding In to mercury or alloying In into the alloy particles appeared to be more effective in reducing the mercury vapor than admixing pure In particles into the amalgam.