Mercury, a study in poisoning
Mercury in our companion animal vaccines
From Websters:
Mercury-a heavy silver-white POISONOUS metallic element that is liquid
at ordinary temperatures and is used especially in scientific instruments.
THIMEROSAL is derived from mercury and is used as a disinfectant and preservative
in Vaccines.
Uptake of Mercury
The level of toxicity from mercury exposure is dependent on the type of
mercury involved, how much enters the body, how it enters the body, and how
old the individual is when they are exposed.
Organic mercury compounds can be absorbed either when they are ingested orally
or come into contact with the skin. All of us are exposed to extremely small
amounts of mercury whether we like it or not. The most common ways that we
come into contact with mercury is through consumption of certain fish.
When inside the body, methyl mercury spreads to all the tissues of
the body but seems to concentrate in the blood and in the brain.
The fact that Mercury in the vaccines is given by injection rather
than by oral ingestion only makes the exposure levels worse. The distribution
of foreign particles in mice reached higher concentration in organs following
intravenous or intramuscular injections than via oral injection.
Mercury Danger to the brain
The blood brain barrier (BBB) consists of continuous layer of cells that
are joined by tight junctions with very high electrical resistance. This
impedes the flow of large molecules across the membranes of the cells. Small
molecules that have an affinity for lipids (fats) can cross the BBB, and
the more attracted to fat the molecule is, the better its penetration into
and out of the brain.
Thimerosal is more attracted to fatty tissue than the mercury cation. (3)
Thimerosal, being an organic mercurial similar to
methyl- and ethylmercury, is likely to accumulate in lipid rich tissues such
as the central
nervous system. In the CNS, thimerosal could reach levels significantly
higher. (1)
It has been determined that uptake of mercury in the brain is 5-7 times greater
than in the blood.
"We have demonstrated the toxicity of thimerosal by using it to kill neurons
(brain cells) in culture------Testimony Prof Boyd Haley, University of Kentucky,
Chair and Head of
Chemistry.......
Additional studies in our laboratory show that neurons are especially sensitive
to thimerosal-induced toxicity when compared to other cell types. (2)
Organic mercury expresses its toxicity principally in the central nervous
system. It may also affect important organs such as the kidneys, and systems
such as the immune system.
Mercury and developing children and fetuses
Mercury is much more toxic for the developing brains of fetuses, infants,
and children under the age of six months. There has been recent data that
indicates that in utero exposure to mercury levels once thought to be safe
may also have slight adverse effects on the developing brain. (4)
Since very young children are more sensitive to mercury than adults, children
can become poisoned by mercury and develop nervous and digestive system problems
and kidney damage. Pregnant woman who ingest mercury at high levels can pass
harmful effects to the developing fetus including brain damage, mental retardation,
lack of coordination, blindness, seizures, and an inability to speak. (5)
Pharmacokinetics and toxicity Ethyl and Methyl Review of EPA's report to
congress on scientific issues related to studies of the health effects of
Methyl and Ethyl mercury.
Findings: Mercury is a developmental Neurotoxin
Developing fetus is 10X more sensitive than adult
low level exposure difficult to evaluate. (6)
Developmental toxicants are agents that cause adverse effects on the developing
child. Effects can include birth defects, low birth weight, biological dysfunctions,
or psychological or behavioral deficits that become manifest as the child
grows. Maternal exposure to toxic chemicals during pregnancy can disrupt
the development or even cause the death of the fetus. Exposure of pregnant
women to mercury lowers birth weight and can cause severe brain damage in
children. (7).
The brain and body of fetuses, infants and small children are developing
rapidly and are more susceptible to toxicity than is the adult brain.
The gestation for a human is 40 weeks, the gestation for a pup, 8 weeks.
A rapidly developing brain such as that of the pup would be very prone to
insult from mercury.
Mercury and adults
Toxicity of mercury has been linked to many different diseases in humans,
including autism, learning disabilities, Alzheimer’s, multiple sclerosis,
fibromyalgia, lupus, chronic fatigue syndrome, arthritis, depression, and
bipolar disorder.
Toxic doses of mercury can cause developmental effects in the fetus, as well
as affecting the kidney and the nervous system in children and adults. Mercury
exists in a number
of different chemical forms, each one consisting of different levels of toxicity.
The forms of mercury can also be converted from one to another in the environment
and in the body, so symptoms caused by mercury poisoning depends on the precise
chemical forms involved. (8)
Mercury in the presence of other toxicants
Mercury has an enhanced effect when other poisons are present. A small dose
of mercury that kills 1 in 100 rats and a dose of aluminum that will kill
1 in 100 rats, when combined have a striking effect: all the rats die. Doses
of mercury that have a 1 percent mortality will have a 100
percent mortality rate if some aluminum is there. Vaccines contain aluminum.
Mercury on the Mind by Donald W. Miller, Jr., MD
Vaccines with thimerosal present were much more toxic [to brain cultured
cells] than
thimerosal-free vaccines. Pure thimerosal was toxic at the low nanomolar
level -- an extremely
low concentration, about 10,000 times less than the thimerosal concentration
found in most
vaccines."
"The presence of aluminum dramatically increased the rate of neuronal death
[brain cells]
caused by thimerosal. Therefore, the aluminum-and-thimerosal combination
found in vaccines
produces a toxic mixture that cannot be compared to situations where thimerosal
alone is the toxic exposure"
"For some reason, tetracycline increased the ocular toxic reaction to thimerosal.
We've done some experiments to determine if certain antibiotics could also
increase thimerosal-induced
neuronal death in the neuron culture system. Our preliminary results indicate
that this is the
case, especially with tetracycline and ampicillin."
"Neurons that were pre-incubated with estrogen demonstrated substantial
protection against thimerosal-induces neuronal death. In contrast, the addition
of testosterone caused a very large increase in thimerosal-induced death.
A low nano-molar level of thimerosal that gave less than 5 percent neuron
death in three hours could result in 100 percent cell death by the addition
of one micromolar level of testosterone."(9)
Mercury and the immune system
Definitions Immunotoxicity is defined as adverse effects on the functioning
of the immune system that result from exposure to chemical substances. Altered
immune function may lead to the increased incidence or severity of infectious
diseases or cancer, since the immune system’s ability to respond adequately
to invading agents is suppressed. Identifying immunotoxicants is difficult
because chemicals can cause a wide variety of complicated effects on immune
function. (10, 11)
Strains differ in respect to influence of toxin (12)
A recent study carried out by Mady Hornig, MD, and colleagues (Hornig, Chian
et al. 2004), that was funded, in part, by the M.I.N.D. Institute, has raised
the possibility that certain strains of mice with immune dysfunction may
be particularly susceptible to the neurotoxic effects of thimerosal. Some
of the mice in Dr. Hornig's study were healthy and pediatric levels of thimerosal
did not affect either their behavior or brain development. However, in an
inbred strain of mice that is prone to autoimmune problems, treatment with
the same pediatric levels of thimerosal led to both behavioral problems and
abnormal development of certain brain regions. These findings will, of course,
need to be independently replicated. But, they suggest that more
research must be focused on detecting which individuals are genetically vulnerable
to
environmental challenges such as mercury, PCBs and others. (13)
In their work, the scientists found that insulin-like growth factor-1
(IGF-1) and the neurotransmitter
dopamine both stimulated folate-dependent methylation pathways in neuronal
cells. At the same
time they noted that compounds like thimerosal, ethanol and metals (like
lead and mercury)
effectively inhibited these same biochemical pathways at concentrations that
are typically found
following vaccination or other sources of exposure. (14)
In Conclusion
Given the toxic nature of Thimerosal , its affinity for brain tissue and
the damage it causes to the developing brain and to the immune system it
should not be administered in any form to our companion animals.
1. http://www.altcorp.com/DentalInformation/thimeffects.htm
2. http://www.altcorp.com/DentalInformation/thimneurotoxa.htm
3. http://www.altcorp.com/DentalInformation/SlideShows/Thimerosal/sld043.htm
4. http://www.thimerosal-news.com/html/dangers.html
5. http://www.thimerosal-litigation.com/html/faqs.html#4
6. http://www.fda.gov/ohrms/dockets/ac/99/backgrd/3544b1e.pdf
7. http://www.scorecard.org/health-effects/chemicals.tcl?short_hazard_name=devel&all_p=t
8. http://www.thimerosal-autism-symptoms.com/html/faqs.html#4
9. http://vaccine.elehost.com/thimerosal.htm
10. http://www.jpands.org/vol8no1/geier.pdfImmunotoxicity
11. http://www.scorecard.org/health-effects/chemicals-2.tcl?short_hazard_name=immun&all_p=t
12. http://www.greeneidlab.columbia.edu/press_releases/Thimabstract%20IMFAR.pdf
13. http://www.ucdmc.ucdavis.edu/mindinstitute/html/news/current/position.html
14. http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2004-02/mp-alb020204.php