Thimerosal Facts:

Mercury is hazardous to humans. The use of a toxic poison as a preservative is undesirable, unnecessary and should be eliminated entirely.
For decades, ethylmercury was used extensively in medical products ranging from vaccines to topical ointments as preservative and an anti-bacteriological agent.
Manufacturers of vaccines and thimerosal, (an ethylmercury compound used in vaccines), have never conducted adequate testing on the safety of thimerosal. The FDA has never required manufacturers to conduct adequate safety testing on thimerosal and ethylmercury compounds. Current evidence suggests thimerosal is neither "safe nor effective" when used as a preservative in vaccines.
There are over 1500 studies and papers documenting the hypoallergenicity and toxicity of thimerosal (ethylmercury) have existed for decades.
The United States is in the midst of a tragic epidemic of autism. An analysis of the US Department of Education data from 1992-1993 in comparison to 2000-2001 indicates that there has been an average increase of 644% among all US children. In addition, 13 states have reported an almost infinite or infinite increase in autism from 1992-1993 in comparison to 2000-2001. A review of children in US schools indicates that approximately 1 in 9 children in the US is currently disabled by the US Department of Education Statistics (see attachment). Recent studies in the Journal of the American Medical Association and Pediatrics have confirmed the autism epidemic is real and not due to changes in diagnosis, populational changes nor is it explained by other factors.
At the same time that the incidence of autism was growing, the number of childhood vaccines containing thimerosal was growing, increasing the amount of ethylmercury to which infants were exposed threefold.
A growing number of scientists and researchers believe that a relationship between the increase in neurodevelopmental disorders of autism, attention deficit hyperactive disorder, and speech or language delay, and the increased use of thimerosal in vaccines is plausible and deserves more scrutiny. In 2001, the Institute of Medicine determined that such a relationship is biologically plausible, but that not enough evidence exists to support or reject this hypothesis. Recent studies have confirmed the association between the use of thimerosal and autism has moved from "biologically plausible" to a "biological certainty" (Boyd Haley). Recent work by Dr. Mark Geier and David Geier in the Journal of American Physicians and Surgeons and Experimental Biology and Medicine have shown strong epidemiological evidence for a causal relationship between thimerosal and neurodevelopmental disorders in children.
The FDA acted too slowly to remove ethylmercury from over-the-counter products like topical ointments and skin creams. Although an advisory committee determined that ethylmercury was unsafe in these products in 1980, a rule requiring its removal was not finalized until 1998.
The FDA and the CDC failed in their duty to be vigilant as new vaccines containing thimerosal were approved and added to the immunization schedule. When the Hepatitis B and Haemophilus Influenzae Type b vaccines were added to the recommended schedule of childhood immunizations, the cumulative amount of ethylmercury to which children were exposed nearly tripled.
The amount of ethylmercury to which children were exposed through vaccines prior to the 1999 announcement exceeded two safety thresholds established by the Federal Government for a closely related substance - methylmercury. While the Federal Government has established no safety threshold for ethylmercury, experts agree that the methylmercury guidelines are a good substitute. Federal health officials have conceded that the amount of thimerosal in vaccines exceeded the EPA threshold of 0.1 micrograms per kilogram of bodyweight. In fact, the amount of mercury in one dose of DTaP or Hepatitis B vaccines (25 micrograms each) exceeded this threshold many times over. Federal health officials have not conceded that this amount of thimerosal in vaccines exceeded the FDA's more relaxed threshold of 0.4 micrograms per kilogram of body weight. In most cases, however, it clearly did. As evidence of the growing concern of the adverse effects of mercury, the FDA has recently changed its permissible dose of oral methylmercury from 0.4 microgram to 0.1 micrograms per kilogram of body weight per day.
The actions taken by the HHS to remove thimerosal from vaccines in 1999 were not sufficiently aggressive. As a result, thimerosal remained in some vaccines for an additional two years. Thimerosal remains in several vaccines and with the addition of the influenza vaccine now being recommended for infants, children are exposed to more thimerosal today than ever before.
The CDC's failure to state a preference for thimerosal-free vaccines in 2000 and again in 2001 was an abdication of their responsibility. As a result, many children received vaccines containing thimerosal when thimerosal-free alternatives were available.
Thimerosal should be removed from all of these vaccines. No amount of mercury is appropriate in any childhood vaccine.
The CDC in general and the National Immunization Program in particular are conflicted in their duties to monitor the safety of vaccines, while also charged with the responsibility of purchasing vaccines for resale as well as promoting increased immunization rates.
There is inadequate research regarding ethylmercury neurotoxicity and
nephrotoxicity.
There is inadequate research regarding the relationship between autism and the use of mercury-containing vaccines.
To date, studies conducted or funded by the CDC that purportedly dispute any correlation between autism and vaccine injury have been of poor design, under-powered, and fatally flawed. The CDC's rush to support and promote such research is reflective of a philosophical conflict in looking fairly at emerging theories and clinical data related to adverse reactions from vaccinations.

For more information please visit www.safeminds.org

Table A:
Summary Comparison of Characteristics
of Autism & Mercury Poisoning

	Mercury Poisoning	Autism
Psychiatric	Social deficits, shyness, social withdrawal	Social deficits, social withdrawal, shyness
Disturbances	Depression, mood swings; mask face	Depressive traits, mood swings; flat affect
	Anxiety	Anxiety
	Schizoid tendencies, OCD traits	Schizophrenic & OCD traits; repetitiveness
	Lacks eye contact, hesitant to engage others	Lack of eye contact, avoids conversation
	Irrational fears	Irrational fears
	Irritability, aggression, temper tantrums	Irritability, aggression, temper tantrums
	Impaired face recognition	Impaired face recognition
Speech,	Loss of speech, failure to develop speech	Delayed language, failure to develop speech
Language &	Dysarthria; articulation problems	Dysarthria; articulation problems
Hearing	Speech comprehension deficits	Speech comprehension deficits
Deficits	Verbalizing & word retrieval problems	Echolalia; word use & pragmatic errors
	Sound sensitivity	Sound sensitivity
	Hearing loss; deafness in very high doses	Mild to profound hearing loss
	Poor performance on language IQ tests	Poor performance on verbal IQ tests
Sensory	Abnormal sensation in mouth & extremities	Abnormal sensation in mouth & extremities
Abnormalities	Sound sensitivity	Sound sensitivity
	Abnormal touch sensations; touch aversion	Abnormal touch sensations; touch aversion
	Vestibular abnormalities	Vestibular abnormalities
Motor Disorders	Involuntary jerking movements – arm flapping, ankle jerks, myoclonal jerks, choreiform movements, circling, rocking	Stereotyped movements - arm flapping, jumping, circling, spinning, rocking; myoclonal jerks; choreiform movements
	Deficits in eye-hand coordination; limb apraxia; intention tremors	Poor eye-hand coordination; limb apraxia; problems with intentional movements
	Gait impairment; ataxia – from incoordination & clumsiness to inability to walk, stand, or sit; loss of motor control	Abnormal gait and posture, clumsiness and incoordination; difficulties sitting, lying, crawling, and walking
	Difficulty in chewing or swallowing	Difficulty chewing or swallowing
	Unusual postures; toe walking	Unusual postures; toe walking
Cognitive Impairments	Borderline intelligence, mental retardation - some cases reversible	Borderline intelligence, mental retardation - sometimes "recovered"
	Poor concentration, attention, response inhibition	Poor concentration, attention, shifting attention
	Uneven performance on IQ subtests	Uneven performance on IQ subtests
	Verbal IQ higher than performance IQ	Verbal IQ higher than performance IQ
	Poor short term, verbal, & auditory memory	Poor short term, auditory & verbal memory
	Poor visual and perceptual motor skills, impairment in simple reaction time	Poor visual and perceptual motor skills, lower performance on timed tests
	Difficulty carrying out complex commands	Difficulty carrying out multiple commands
	Word-comprehension difficulties	Word-comprehension difficulties
	Deficits in understanding abstract ideas & symbolism; degeneration of higher mental powers	Deficits in abstract thinking & symbolism, understanding other’s mental states, sequencing, planning & organizing

(iv)

Unusual	Stereotyped sniffing (rats)	Stereotyped, repetitive behaviors
Behaviors	ADHD traits	ADHD traits
	Agitation, unprovoked crying, grimacing, staring spells	Agitation, unprovoked crying, grimacing, staring spells
	Sleep difficulties	Sleep difficulties
	Eating disorders, feeding problems	Eating disorders, feeding problems
	Self injurious behavior, e.g. head banging	Self injurious behavior, e.g. head banging
Visual	Poor eye contact, impaired visual fixation	Poor eye contact, problems in joint attention
Impairments	"Visual impairments," blindness, near-sightedness, decreased visual acuity	"Visual impairments"; inaccurate/slow saccades; decreased rod functioning
	Light sensitivity, photophobia	Over-sensitivity to light
	Blurred or hazy vision	Blurred vision
	Constricted visual fields	Not described
Physical Disturbances	Increase in cerebral palsy; hyper- or hypo-tonia; abnormal reflexes; decreased muscle strength, especially upper body; incontinence; problems chewing, swallowing, salivating	Increase in cerebral palsy; hyper- or hypotonia; decreased muscle strength, especially upper body; incontinence; problems chewing and swallowing
	Rashes, dermatitis/dry skin, itching; burning	Rashes, dermatitis, eczema, itching
	Autonomic disturbance: excessive sweating, poor circulation, elevated heart rate	Autonomic disturbance: unusual sweating, poor circulation, elevated heart rate
Gastro-intestinal	Gastroenteritis, diarrhea; abdominal pain, constipation, "colitis"	Diarrhea, constipation, gaseousness, abdominal discomfort, colitis
Disturbances	Anorexia, weight loss, nausea, poor appetite	Anorexia; feeding problems/vomiting
	Lesions of ileum & colon; increased gut permeability	Leaky gut syndrome
	Inhibits dipeptidyl peptidase IV, which cleaves casomorphin	Inadequate endopeptidase enzymes needed for breakdown of casein & gluten
Abnormal Biochemistry	Binds -SH groups; blocks sulfate transporter in intestines, kidneys	Low sulfate levels
	Has special affinity for purines & pyrimidines	Purine & pyrimidine metabolism errors lead to autistic features
	Reduces availability of glutathione, needed in neurons, cells & liver to detoxify heavy metals	Low levels of glutathione; decreased ability of liver to detoxify heavy metals
	Causes significant reduction in glutathione peroxidase and glutathione reductase	Abnormal glutathione peroxidase activities in erythrocytes
	Disrupts mitochondrial activities, especially in brain	Mitochondrial dysfunction, especially in brain
Immune Dysfunction	Sensitivity due to allergic or autoimmune reactions; sensitive individuals more likely to have allergies, asthma, autoimmune-like symptoms, especially rheumatoid-like ones	More likely to have allergies and asthma; familial presence of autoimmune diseases, especially rheumatoid arthritis; IgA deficiencies
	Can produce an immune response in CNS	On-going immune response in CNS
	Causes brain/MBP autoantibodies	Brain/MBP autoantibodies present
	Causes overproduction of Th2 subset; kills/inhibits lymphocytes, T-cells, and monocytes; decreases NK T-cell activity; induces or suppresses IFNg & IL-2	Skewed immune-cell subset in the Th2 direction; decreased responses to T-cell mitogens; reduced NK T-cell function; increased IFNg & IL-12

(v)

CNS Structural Pathology		Selectively targets brain areas unable to detoxify or reduce Hg-induced oxidative stress	Specific areas of brain pathology; many functions spared
		Damage to Purkinje and granular cells	Damage to Purkinje and granular cells
		Accummulates in amygdala and hippocampus	Pathology in amygdala and hippocampus
		Causes abnormal neuronal cytoarchitecture; disrupts neuronal migration & cell division; reduces NCAMs	Neuronal disorganization; increased neuronal cell replication, increased glial cells; depressed expression of NCAMs
		Progressive microcephaly	Progressive microcephaly and macrocephaly
		Brain stem defects in some cases	Brain stem defects in some cases

Abnormalities in Neuro-chemistry		Prevents presynaptic serotonin release & inhibits serotonin transport; causes calcium disruptions	Decreased serotonin synthesis in children; abnormal calcium metabolism
		Alters dopamine systems; peroxidine deficiency in rats resembles mercurialism in humans	Possibly high or low dopamine levels; positive response to peroxidine (lowers dopamine levels)
		Elevates epinephrine & norepinephrine levels by blocking enzyme that degrades epinephrine	Elevated norepinephrine and epinephrine
		Elevates glutamate	Elevated glutamate and aspartate
		Leads to cortical acetylcholine deficiency; increases muscarinic receptor density in hippocampus & cerebellum	Cortical acetylcholine deficiency; reduced muscarinic receptor binding in hippocampus
		Causes demyelinating neuropathy	Demyelination in brain
EEG	Causes abnormal EEGs, epileptiform activity	Abnormal EEGs, epileptiform activity
Abnormalities/	Causes seizures, convulsions	Seizures; epilepsy
Epilepsy	Causes subtle, low amplitude seizure activity	Subtle, low amplitude seizure activities
Population	Effects more males than females	Male:female ratio estimated at 4:1
Charact-eristics	At low doses, only affects those geneticially susceptible	High heritability - concordance for MZ twins is 90%
	First added to childhood vaccines in 1930s	First "discovered" among children born in 1930s
	Exposure levels steadily increased since 1930s with rate of vaccination, number of vaccines	Prevalence of autism has steadily increased from 1 in 2000 (pre1970) to 1 in 500 (early 1990s), higher in 2000.
	Exposure occurs at 0 - 15 months; clinical silent stage means symptom emergence delayed; symptoms emerge gradually, starting with movement & sensation	Symptoms emerge from 4 months to 2 years old; symptoms emerge gradually, starting with movement & sensation

The information provided on this page is for educational and informational purposes only and should not be considered legal or medical advice. NAA strongly believes that everyone should do their own research into the causes of autism spectrum disorders.