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Robert Kennedy on the Vaccine Autism Coverup
Does thimerosal cause autism?
Thimerosal has been used as a pharmaceutical preservative since the 1930s and is effective in preventing bacte-rial and fungal contamination of vaccines.
Thimerosal’s active ingredient is ethylmercury, which constitutes approximately half of its weight. Before the fall of 1999, there was 25 μg of mercury in each 0.5 mL dose of most diphtheria and tetanus toxoids and acellular pertussis vaccines as well as some Haemophilus influenzae type b, influenza, meningococcal, pneumococcal, and rabies vaccines. In addition, there was 12.5 μg of mercury in each dose of the hepatitis B vaccine.
The data available from studies in children have suggested that ethylmercury is less toxic than methylmercury and that it is eliminated from the body more rapidly.
Although the amount of mercury in each dose of vaccine is very small, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) determined that under the recommended childhood immunization schedule, infants might be exposed to cumulative doses of mercury that exceed some federal safety guidelines. Additionally, a joint statement issued in July 1999 by the
In 1999, public health officials ordered manufacturers to phase thimerosal out of common vaccines, such as hepatitis and diphtheria, as a precaution. Today thimerosal is all but gone from childhood vaccinations.
In a statement released in May 2004, the IOM Immunization Safety Review Committee reported that, after years of study, they can find no scientific evidence that supports an association between autism and thimerosal containing vaccines, because low doses of thimerosal in human beings are not associated with developmental delay. Additionally, abnormalities in the nervous system that have been associated with exposure to methylmercury have only been shown to occur in prenatal and not postnatal exposure, as occurs in vaccinations. The firm language in this report is indicative of the researchers’ confidence and should be compared with earlier IOM reports in 1991, 1994, and 2001, which concluded there was insufficient evidence to accept or reject a link between vaccines and autism.
When considering the risk of small amounts of mercury in vaccinations, one must consider other environmental exposures to mercury that we all have. Mercury occurs naturally in the environment. According to toxicologists at the FDA, approximately 2,700 to 6,000tons of mercury are released annually into the atmosphere naturally by degassing from the earth’s crust and oceans. Another 2,000 to 3,000 tons are released annually into the atmosphere by human activities, primarily from burning household and industrial wastes, and especially from fossil fuels such as coal.
Mercury vapor is easily transported in the atmosphere, deposited on land and water, and then, in part, released again to the atmosphere. Minute amounts of mercury are soluble in bodies of water, where bacteria can cause chemical changes that transform mercury to methylmercury, a more toxic form. Therefore, tiny amounts of mercury exist in the air we breathe, the water we drink, and the food we eat.
