Thimerosal, a Mercury Containing Preservative

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Thimerosal, a Mercury Containing Preservative:

Since the 1930s, some, but not all, of the vaccines routinely recommended for children in the U.S. have contained small amounts of thimerosal. In July 1999, the U.S. government asked vaccine manufacturers to eliminate or reduce, as expeditiously as possible, the mercury content of their vaccines to avoid any possibility of infants who receive vaccines being exposed to more mercury than is recommended by federal guidelines.

Thimerosal is basically a preservative. That is, it kills specified challenge organisms and can prevent the growth of challenge fungi. It contains an ethyl mercury radical attached to a sulfer group of thiosalicylate and is believed to behave toxicologically like other ethyl mercury compounds.

According to the U.K. Department of Health, "There is no, and never has been, thiomersal in any MMR vaccine used in the U.K."

One of the reasons I'm writing about thimerosal is because of the stories in the press about parents who allege their children developed autism after being given a vaccination that contained thimerosal. These parents are involved in a lawsuit, and they are seeking compensation.

Sometimes the stories make a connection between thimerosal and autism, and other stories make a connection between MMR as a trigger to autism in immune-compromised children.

I do not understand how a link will be proved that connects the small amount of a mercury-containing preservative (thimerosal) in a vaccination, and a child's autism. That is not a subject I will cover on this one page. Also, there may be much more to the case than I understand.

In January 2004 two American academics say they proved that the rise in Autism over the past decade is explained by a change in the way doctors diagnose behavioural disorders. Epidemiologists Hershal Jick and James Kaye, of the Boston University school of medicine, based their research on 280 GP surgeries with 3 million patients. They say the data shows that the rise in autism cases correspond with a decline in the diagnoses of other development disorders. They do not rule out the possibility that MMR or another drug might trigger autism in an individual child, but they say it can not be responsible for the large rise.

MERCURY

Mercury occurs naturally in the environment and exists in several forms - metallic mercury, inorganic mercury, and organic mercury.

Mercury's absorption and metabolism depend on its chemical and physical form. Different forms of mercury can have differing health effects. When metallic mercury vapors are inhaled, they readily enter the bloodstream and cross the blood-brain barrier. Ingesting large amounts of methyl mercury also results in some of the mercury crossing the blood-brain barrier and affecting the nervous system. Mercury can harm an unborn baby or a young child's developing nervous system.

You can be exposed to mercury through your dental amalgam fillings, by eating certain types of fish, or by living near a hazardous waste site.