Potamus said:Psyche thanks for that article! It will take me a while to digest (I want to detox also), I am wondering if this notion in more accepted in France? I'd like to confirm these:
- W. Bush along with Bill Frist have blocked the story in the US up to an including pressuring the Centers for Disease Control (supposedly impartial) to equivocate on the issue.
- There is a special system of courts set up here in the US for parents attempting to sue.
- The damages if proven true are huge $$$ pharmies would have to pay for years of inducing autism.
Without Thimerosal, how volatile are vaccines? Can they simply not be delivered at all, or do they cost 50% more because they must be shipped weekly instead of bi-annually? This part of the equation completely eludes me as of yet.
I don't have those answers, but I know there is a lot of info in sott.net and this forum related to this, don't hesitate to do a search to check what we have archived. Perhaps others can add more details. FWIW:
autism.com said:Thimerosal in Childhood Vaccines
Thimerosal, a preservative utilized in the production of numerous medications including
infant vaccines and immune globulin products contains 49.6% ethyl mercury by weight.
The history of thimerosal use in vaccines is complex. It was first used in the late 1930’s,
and as the number of vaccinations given to human infants increased, the amount of
injected thimerosal increased. Thimerosal was removed from animal vaccines in the
early 1990’s. As part of an ongoing review of biological products, the Food and Drug
Administration (FDA) announced in 1999 that infants who received multiple mercury-
preserved vaccines may have been exposed to cumulative mercury levels in excess of
Federal safety guidelines.In 1999, the AAP (American Academy of Pediatrics)
recommended it be removed from childhood vaccines , and in 2001 the FDA asked (but
did not require) vaccine manufacturers to remove it from childhood vaccines. Today,
thimerosal has been removed from most but not all childhood vaccines. In September
2004, California passed legislation to ban thimerosal use in childhood vaccines, and
several other states have passed similar laws.
Thimerosal is a mercury-based preservative (50% mercury) which was commonly used in
most childhood vaccines until recently. Some examples of the thimerosal content of
childhood vaccines includes Hep B (12.5 mcg), DTaP (25 mcg), HiB (25 mcg), and PCV
(25 mcg). The HepB vaccine is given at birth, and assuming that the infant weighs 3.4 kg
(7.5 pounds), then their “safe” exposure limit per the EPA is 0.34 mcg, so that their
injection with HepB exceeds the recommended “safe” limits by a factor of 36; lower
body weight infants are at higher risk, as vaccines are one of the rare medications where
the dose does not depend on age or bodyweight (the same dose is given to an adult as a
premature infant). If an infant were fully vaccinated in the 1990’s, then they received
approximately 237.5 mcg of mercury during their first 15 months of life.
It is interesting to note that thimerosal in vaccines was introduced in the late 1930’s, only
a few short years before Dr. Leo Kanner described a new mental disorder which differed
“markedly and uniquely from anything reported” before. In its early history autism was
diagnosed more frequently in affluent families, but became more evenly distributed
socioeconomically by the 1970’s. This apparent widening in demographics paralleled the
increasing availability of vaccines to all children through federally sponsored programs.
In the late 1980’s and early 1990’s the vaccine schedule was amended to include both
Hepatitis B and HiB vaccines. Each of these vaccines was administered to infants 3
times during the first six-months of life. Their addition to the vaccine schedule potentially
tripled an infant’s exposure to mercury, should they receive all thimerosal-containing
vaccines.
During the 1980’s and 1990’s, the Academy of Obstetrics and Gynecology recommended
that all Rh- pregnant women receive a prophylactic dose of anti-Rho-D immune globulin
during the pregnancy at 28 weeks gestation. Prophylaxis was also recommended for any
invasive procedure like amniocentesis or villi sampling and for any episodes of bleeding
during the pregnancy. With approximately 15% of the population being Rh- and many
women choosing to delay childbirth and opting to undergo invasive procedures necessary
to identify chromosomal abnormalities, exposure to mercury prenatally has also increased
over the past decade. It has been during this same time period, the 1980’s and especially
the 1990’s, that we have witnessed a tremendous increase in the occurrence of autism
spectrum disorders. Anti Rho-D exposure levels also varied widely from a low of 7.5
mcg to a high of 65 mcg per dose. At times multiple doses were administered
throughout the pregnancy.
The potential toxicity of thimerosal in vaccines has only recently received attention, and
there has been very little study of the effect of thimerosal in infant animals. The potential
danger of thimerosal is highlighted by a 2004 study by Hornig et al, which investigated
the effect of the injection of thimerosal into infant mice, at a dosage and dosage schedule
equivalent to that given to a human infant at age 2, 4, 6, and 12 months of age (based on
the thimerosal content of the HepB, DTaP, and HiB vaccines). She found that two strains
of mice were completely unaffected, but the third strain of mice (a strain known to be
susceptible to autoimmunity) suffered several major problems, including growth delay,
reduced locomotion, exaggerated response to novelty, and abnormal development of
neurons and synapses. This important recent study suggests that although most human
infants would be unaffected by thimerosal at concentrations present in childhood
vaccines, there may be a subset of genetically-vulnerable infants who could be damaged
at dosages used in childhood vaccines. It is important to note that the families of autistic
children often have immune disorders, suggesting that their children would be more
vulnerable to thimerosal.
Toxicity of Thimerosal
Because there is little information on the toxicity of ethyl mercury (the form in
thimerosal), much of the estimation of its toxicity is based on methyl mercury. However,
a recent investigation by Burbacher (2004) in primates documented that ethyl mercury
had a shorter half-life in the blood than methyl mercury, resulting in higher blood:brain
ratios, and that it is rapidly converted to inorganic mercury, which is toxic and can stay in
the brain for years. A study by Pichichero (2002) assessed blood levels of mercury in
infants after exposure to thimerosal-containing vaccines and reported a level in a 2 month
old infant of 20.55 nmol/L, five days after receiving only a 37.5 mcg exposure (but the
level was probably even higher shortly after the injection). According to a letter to the
editor written by Dr. Neal Halsey, a dose of 62.5 mcg could well have resulted in a peak
blood mercury level of 48.3nmol/l. Applying Burbacher’s newly reported brain to blood
partition ratio predicted brain levels of mercury would be 217.35 ng/g. Given that Baskin
et al. (2003) have documented DNA damage, caspase-3 activation, nuclear membrane
damage and cell death in cultured adult human neurons and fibroblasts exposed to 201
mcg/l ethyl mercury after 6 hours or less of incubation, it seems likely that routine
vaccination practices during the 1990’s may have resulted in neurodevelopmental injury
to some infants.
Similarly, a study by Waly et al., (2004) documented that thimerosal, at low
nanomolar concentrations, inhibited insulin like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) and dopamine
stimulated methylation in human neuroblastoma cells, indicating its potential to disrupt
normal growth factor control and methylation. Levels of thimerosal exposure that
produced these abnormalities were well below the documented levels found to occur in
infants from exposure to thimerosal containing vaccines in the Pichichero investigation
cited above. This investigation provides a molecular explanation for how increased use of
vaccines could promote an increase in the incidence of autism.
[...]
Heavy metals, including the ethylmercury from thimerosal, have important effects
on metabolic pathways that are involved with sulfur-containing amino acids (e.g.
methionine, S-adenosylmethionine, S-adenosylhomocysteine, homocysteine and
cysteine) sulfur-containing peptides (e.g. glutathione). The ability to clear metals from
the body depends upon the levels of these thiols, especially the concentration of
glutathione. Their lower levels of glutathione place autistic children at greater risk for
heavy metal toxicity directed against the very system that defends them.
Research by R. Deth et al. has shown that heavy metals and thimerosal potently
inhibit the activity of methionine synthase, which uses folate-derived methyl groups to
convert homocysteine to methionine. This inhibition blocks the ability of insulin-like
growth factor-1 (IGF-1) and dopamine to activate this enzyme, thereby interfering with
the role of methylation in development and in the molecular mechanism of attention.
[...]
Epidemiology of Autism and Thimerosal in Vaccines:
There is a historical correlation of autism and thimerosal in vaccines. Thimerosal
was first used in infant vaccines in the late 1930’s, and the first cases of autism were
diagnosed by Kanner shortly thereafter. As the number of thimerosal-containing
vaccines given to children has increased, the incidence of autism has tended to increase.
Some countries with low thimerosal use (such as Denmark) have much lower rates of
autism than other countries that used high amounts of thimerosal (US).
There have been nine epidemiological studies of the link between thimerosal in
vaccines and autism. Four published studies by the Geiers have consistently found
that children who received thimerosal in their vaccines had a 2-6x higher chance of
developing autism than those who received thimerosal-free vaccines. Four published
studies by groups affiliated with vaccine manufacturers have failed to find a link,
and one was inconclusive, but those studies are somewhat flawed. Three of the
negative studies were in countries with much lower usage of thimerosal than in the US,
and they had much lower rates of autism in those countries, so it is invalid to extrapolate
those results to the US. One of the US studies initially stated in an internal report to the
CDC that the children who received thimerosal in their vaccines had a 7-11x higher risk
of developing autism, but the data was manipulated until the relative risk disappeared. In
general, we believe the studies by governmental agencies and vaccine manufacturers are
suspect, and an independent evaluation of the CDC database is needed.
Summary: Children with autism have a low ability to excrete mercury and other toxic
metals, especially in infancy. This results in an increased body burden of mercury and
other toxic metals, which probably is a major contributor to the development of autism in
most of the children. Removal of those toxic metals from their body often results in
reduction of the symptoms of autism, especially in younger children.
Mark Hyman said:Dr. Haley reported on the toxicity of thimerosal. It is
quickly converted to ethylmercury in the body where it moves
rapidly from blood to brain. Mercury is lipophilic and concen-
trates in the brain; therefore, blood levels are not an accurate
measurement of total body burden of mercury. Genetic poly-
morphisms of glutathione disulfide (GSST) prevent excretion
of mercury. Mercury can only be excreted when complexed
with glutathione (GSH). If it cannot be eliminated because
GSH or GSST is lacking, then the mercury stays in tissues and
does damage. Thimersol inhibits methionine synthease and
methylene reductase and thus has significant effects on the
body’s ability to methylate and to produce glutathione.
[...]
Dr. Cave analyzed conflicting recommendations and reports
from the CDC, and from epidemiologic reports concluding that
there is a causal relationship between childhood vaccines con-
taining thimerosal and neurodevelopmental disorders in chil-
dren. She critiqued the Lancet Study, which concluded no toxic
effect from thimerosal for numerous reasons including small
sample size (33), blood drawn on day 7, not true peak level on
day 3, variability in amounts of thimerosal exposure, and
reduced exposure compared to current vaccine schedules. The
population-based cohort study from Denmark published in
JAMA reported no increased risk of autism with thimerosal.
The authors of the study were affiliated with the state-run
Statens Serum Institut. Eighty percent of its profits on $120
million in annual revenue is from vaccines. The methodology
was also called into question because of inconsistencies in the
reporting system.
A case control study of 221 children with autism and 18
controls found that after a DMSA challenge test, vaccinated
autistic children had three times the level of mercury in their
urine compared to controls.
. They are all gone now, I had them replaced quite a few years ago. And it was only when I changed my diet (cut out gluten and dairy) that I stopped having problems with my teeth. 
