Autism or flu…choose your poison If you haven't yet heard of Thimerosal, hang onto your mittens…it's a word likely to creep into more and more health headlines in the coming months and years. Thimerosal is used as a preservative in vaccines—including but not limited to most flu vaccines. And although most of the preservatives used in the products we put into our bodies are unhealthy -- to simply call Thimerosal unhealthy would be an egregious understatement. You see, Thimerosal is a little less than 50 percent mercury. The same mercury that the Department of Defense classifies as a hazardous material that could cause death if swallowed, inhaled or absorbed through the skin. Mercury poisoning has been linked to cardiovascular disease, autism, seizures, mental retardation, dyslexia and several other neurological disorders. And it's been banned as a vaccine preservative in several Asian and European countries for over 20 years. So, why am I tell you all of this? Because a federally funded study recently came to the conclusion that Thimerosal does not raise the risk of neurological problems in children. An interesting conclusion given that some vaccines (among the 12 to 15 commonly administered to children) contain as much as 12.5 micro grams of mercury per dose. That's more than 100 times the EPA's upper safety limit for mercury when administered to infants. It's also interesting to note that incidence of autism was not included in this study. A separate study is underway, but results are not expected before next year. As for adults like us, sure the concentrations of mercury compared to body weight is much lower, but bear in mind that studies have shown that injected mercury tends to accumulate in the brain. Plus a 1977 study, done in Russia showed that adults exposed to the form of mercury found in Thimerosal lead to brain damage years after exposure. So, you may want to think twice about "playing it safe" and getting that flu shot. And at the very least, make sure the version you're getting does not contain Thimerosal.
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