Material safety is an important concern for all consumer products. More so for one that you wear overnight. Metatooth’s custom night guard is made from material cleared by the FDA for use in medical devices. What’s your night guard made of?
Methyl Methacrylate (MMA)
MMA is irritating to the skin, eyes, and mucus membranes. The FDA has taken action to remove the use of MMA in nail care products.
Methyl methacrylate is used safely in many consumer products, in accordance with the EPA.
Exposure to methyl methacrylate is primarily occupational, through dermal and inhalation routes. Potentialfor exposure exists for employees of manufacturers of methyl methacrylate and its polymers, as well as doctors, nurses, dentists, and dental technicians.
The Methacrylate Producers Association, Inc provides information on this material. The majority of MMA is converted to polymers before being used in consumer products. Exposure to MMA from these products is unlikely.
If you have a sensitivity to MMA, then our custom night guard may not work for you.
Phthalates
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) maintains a fact sheet on phthalates. The CDC has this to say about how people are exposed.
People are exposed to phthalates by eating and drinking foods that have been in contact with containers and products containing phthalates. To a lesser extent exposure can occur from breathing in air that contains phthalate vapors or dust contaminated with phthalate particles. Young children may have a greater risk of being exposed to phthalate particles in dust than adults because of their hand-to-mouth behaviors. Once phthalates enter a person’s body, they are converted into breakdown products (metabolites) that pass out quickly in urine.
The CDC provides a list of items containing phthalates.
- vinyl flooring
- adhesives
- detergents
- lubricating oils
- automotive plastics
- raincoats
- soaps
- shampoos
- hair sprays
- nail polishes
- polyvinyl chloride plastics (plastic packaging film and sheets, garden hoses, inflatable toys, blood-storage containers, medical tubing, some children’s toys)
The health effects of low levels of exposure are unknown. More research is needed!
Our custom night guard does not contain phthalates.
BPA
Our custom night guard does not contain BPA.
Latex
Our custom night guard does not contain latex.
Additional material safety information is available from Metatooth on request. What are your material safety concerns? Post them in the comments!
References
Methyl methacrylate. Wikipedia. wikipedia.org, n.p., en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Methyl_methacrylate. Accessed 28 February 2020.
Nail Care Products. FDA. fda.gov, 6 Mar 2018, www.fda.gov/cosmetics/cosmetic-products/nail-care-products. Accessed 28 February 2020.
Methyl Methacrylate. EPA. epa.gov, n.p., www.epa.gov/sites/production/files/2016-09/documents/methyl-methacrylate.pdf. Accessed 28 February 2020.
Global Product Safety Summary: Methyl Methacrylate. Methacrylate Producers Association, Inc. mpausa.org, 27 Nov 2019, static1.1.sqspcdn.com/static/f/1405676/28245184/1579521490053/MMA+GPS9-27-19REV.pdf. Accessed 28 February 2020.
Phthalates Factsheet. CDC. cdc.gov, 7 Apr 2017, www.cdc.gov/biomonitoring/phthalates_factsheet.html. Accessed 28 February 2020.