Mercury

Mercury in the form of Thimerosal is still in some vaccines administered to infants, pregnant women, and adults. See vaccine inserts.

© Can Stock Photo / evgenyatamanenko

It’s illegal in WA State to give a pregnant woman or child under 3 a vaccine with more than trace amounts of mercury. And it’s against the law to give a minor under the age of 18 a vaccine with more than trace amounts without prior warning (RCW 70.95M.115). But 40% of the flu shots ordered by WA State DOH through their Universal Purchase Program contain a full 25 micrograms of mercury per shot. If you choose to vaccinate (after being fully informed, see our flu vaccine page), be sure to insist on a single-dose mercury-free version. Ask to see the insert.

Some “preservative-free” flu vaccines still have trace amounts. Sometimes thimerosal is used in the manufacturing process then filtered out, but it’s impossible to remove it all. Sometimes thimerosal is used in the production of aluminum adjuvants. Inserts and the FDA will not always list if this occurred or if trace amounts are present.

Please note the FDA and CDC websites have inaccurate information regarding thimerosal. The science is clear, and if you take the time to read it, and to read the documents recovered through Freedom of Information Act Requests (see the Simpsonwood Transcript), you will see that the government is well aware.

All forms of mercury are neurotoxic, nephrotoxic, and immunotoxic, and there is no known safe level of human exposure (Bose-O’Reilly 2011).

Contrary to assertions by the FDA and CDC, substantial credible evidence exists that ethylmercury, the form in the preservative thimerosal, is as toxic to humans as methylmercury, the form that contaminates fish. Ethylmercury rapidly leaves the blood but not the body, and it accumulates in the brain (Harry 2004; Burbacher 2005; Blanuša 2012).

Ethylmercury is toxic at very low exposures, has been shown to be destructive to cell mitochondria, and metabolizes into highly neurotoxic forms (Risher 2016). Current research has raised concerns that when exposure occurs in the presence of the neurotoxin aluminum, such as is found in vaccine adjuvants and ingredients in other products, synergistic effects increase toxicity (Alexandrov 2018).

In order to not undermine faith in vaccination programs, the public was told thimerosal was being phased out of vaccines because of public concern and an abundance of caution–but thimerosal was phased out of some vaccines because mercury is toxic. The public was led to believe it was phased out of ALL vaccines, but it remains in many vaccines administered to women and children in developing nations, and in the U.S, thimerosal is included in some adult vaccine formulations, and thimerosal was added into the pediatric schedule in annual flu vaccines in 2004, and recommended to pregnant women in every pregnancy that same year, exposing the most vulnerable babies of all.

For the best and latest information on mercury, please visit the science database at CHILDREN’S HEALTH DEFENSE.

 

Citations:

Alexandrov PN, Pogue AI, Lukiw WJ (2018) Synergism in aluminum and mercury neurotoxicity. Integr Food Nutr Metab 5: doi: 10.15761/IFNM.1000214

Bose-O’Reilly S, McCarty KM, Steckling N, Lettmeier B. Mercury exposure and children’s health. Curr Probl Pediatr Adolesc Health Care. 2010;40(8):186-215.

Burbacher TM, Shen DD, Liberato N, Grant KS, Cernichiari E, Clarkson T. Comparison of blood and brain mercury levels in infant monkeys exposed to methylmercury or vaccines containing thimerosal. Environ Health Perspect. 2005;113(8):1015-21.

Harry G.J., Harris M.W. Mercury concentrations in brain and kidney following ethylmercury, methylmercury and Thimerosal administration to neonatal mice. Toxicology Letters, 2004 Dec 30;154(3):183-9.

Maja Blanuša, Tatjana Orct, Maja Vihnanek Lazarus, Ankica Sekovanić, and Martina Piasek, “Mercury Disposition in Suckling Rats: Comparative Assessment Following Parenteral Exposure to Thiomerosal and Mercuric Chloride,” Journal of Biomedicine and Biotechnology, vol. 2012, Article ID 256965, 7 pages, 2012.

Risher J.F., Tucker P. (2016) Alkyl Mercury-Induced Toxicity: Multiple Mechanisms of Action. In: de Voogt P. (eds) Reviews of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology Volume 240. Reviews of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology (Continuation of Residue Reviews), vol 240. Springer, Cham