Thimerosal (can't judge effects of ethylmercury by methylmercury studies)

""It's been used (in EPA guidelines) because there are no data on
ethylmercury, but there are on methylmercury, which has been studied
since 1950," he added. "So you use the information that's available --
assuming it's relevant."
From their experiments with 41 newborn crab-eating monkeys, the
investigators concluded that it's not.
"The current study indicates that (methylmercury) is not a suitable
reference for risk assessment from exposure to thimerosal," they wrote.
(Note: In this multi-part installment, based on dozens of reports,
conferences and interviews, Ped Med is keeping on eye on autism, taking
a backward glance at its history and surrounding controversies, facing
facts revealed by research and looking forward to treatment
enhancements and expansions.)"

http://www.sciencedaily.com/upi/inde...-autism-13.xml

Ped Med: Misstep seen in shot safety study
By LIDIA WASOWICZ

SAN FRANCISCO, Oct. 20 (UPI) -- Researchers analyzing new study results
have concluded the government at least partly botched its job when it
was assessing the danger posed by the mercury-based preservative
thimerosal that once was widely used in children's vaccines.

The story begins in the fall of 1971 with a mission of mercy to
famine-ravaged Iraq. In October of that year, the country received
90,000 metric tons of wheat seed, which, intended for planting as
crops, had been treated with methylmercury, a fungicide similar to yet,
as new research suggests, significantly different from the ethylmercury
found in thimerosal.

Rather than being put in the ground in the rural communities that
acquired it, much of the seed instead was ground and baked as bread. Of
the estimated 50,000 consumers of the treated wheat, more than 6,000
were hospitalized for mercury poisoning, 450 died and many pregnant
women gave birth to children with mental retardation, seizures,
impaired vision or hearing and other birth defects.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency studied the amounts of mercury
in samples of the mothers' blood and hair and the occurrence of
disability in their babies along with other toxicological information
to calculate a "safe" level of exposure to the toxin.

For added protection, the agency then further divided that number by a
factor of 10 to come up with limits considered safe for children
receiving vaccines preserved with thimerosal.

The use of these data to formulate guidelines for the U.S. childhood
immunization program was predicated on two critical assumptions: that
the effects of methylmercury and ethylmercury on the human body are the
same and that these do not differ between fetuses still in the womb and
babies already born. Neither, it turns out, is true, scientists say.

Numerous studies have shown a greater susceptibility to poisons of the
developing central nervous system of the fetus than that of the
newborn, researchers say.

Putting aside the differences between the two types of mercury, that
would mean the EPA erred on the side of caution, at least when it comes
to shots given children, not the ones administered to pregnant women --
who to this day are given thimerosal-containing flu vaccines.

As far as the two types of mercury go, other research paints a picture
of beasts of a different color, and it's not yet clear which one has a
darker disposition toward causing neurological harm in babies, doctors
say.

Because of all the uncertainty, the net effect on a youngster of the
small amounts of toxin once commonly found in immunizations remains
highly disputed.

No one denies that mercury in large doses can wreak developmental havoc
and that exposure to the neurotoxin can affect maturing brains, whether
in the womb or cradle. But there's emphatic disagreement among
scientists on just how much is too much and exactly what damage the
child suffers as a result.

The non-profit Environmental Working Group recently challenged a
long-held view of the womb as a shield against toxins. The analysis of
10 samples of umbilical cord blood from infants born in U.S. hospitals
in August and September 2004 detected 287 of the 413 chemicals for
which the researchers tested.

Of these, 180 have been associated with cancer in humans or animals,
217 with irregularities in the brain and nervous system and 208 with
birth defects or abnormal development in animals, the environmentalists
said.

The EPA itself estimates each year even before they're born, more than
300,000 infants may be exposed to enough mercury to increase their risk
of learning disabilities.

That grim conclusion is based on a 1999-2000 analysis that showed some
8 percent of women in the childbearing years of 16 to 49 had higher
than recommended concentrations of the neurotoxin in their blood. Other
studies showed the rate dropping to 3.9 percent in 2001-2002.

In early 2006, however, interim results released from an ongoing survey
detected mercury levels exceeding EPA safety guidelines in as many as
one in five women in that age group.

The results raise concern "because mercury exposure in the womb can
cause neurological damage and other health problems in children," said
an accompanying statement by the environmental groups Sierra Club and
Greenpeace.

The organizations tested hair samples from more than 6,600 Americans of
all ages from all 50 states in what they called the largest such
project ever conducted. In nearly all of the cases, the mercury source
was a fish-rich diet.

The health consequences of such eating habits are under intense debate.

Studies from the Faroe Islands, an archipelago of 18 isles in the North
Sea between Iceland and Norway, have reported a possible connection
between subtle cognitive deficits, such as performance on attention,
language and memory tests, and methylmercury levels previously thought
to be safe.

But critics double fault the research, which involved a
pilot-whale-eating populace. For one, the multitude of pollutants
contaminating the meat muddies the waters, both literally and
figuratively, making it difficult to discern the effects attributable
to mercury, they say. For another, whatever the consequences, they
likely would not apply to American children, few of whom munch on Moby
Dick sandwiches, they point out.

Less disputed, though still controversial, are the results of a
long-running survey, now in its 16th year, of 779 youngsters born in
1989 or 1990 in the Seychelles Islands, a tiny Indian Ocean nation off
the coast of Africa, whose waters are purer and menu selections more
akin to those gracing U.S. dinner tables.

Other than methylmercury, there are no known contaminants in the tuna,
swordfish and other ocean-dwelling delicacies favored by the locals,
say the investigators from the University of Rochester Medical Center
in New York.

Thus far, they say they have observed no evidence of harm in any of the
children, who are now reaching their 16th birthday, from their mothers
wolfing down an average of 12 fish meals a week during pregnancy --
about 10 times the amount of seafood most Americans find palatable.

The horrifying fallout of consuming mercury-polluted fare on the fetus
caught the world off guard in the 1950s during a poisoning outbreak in
Minamata and Niigata, Japan.

Some pregnant women who feasted on noxious seafood gave birth to babies
with severe developmental disabilities, although they themselves
suffered no ill effects, raising questions of extra fetal sensitivity
to the neurotoxin.

The levels of food contamination with mercury from industrial pollution
-- 50 parts per million -- have not been duplicated since. Some 20
years later, Iraq's tragedy spawned of tainted bread led to studies
that suggested there might be adverse effects from exposures as low as
10 to 20 ppm.

The Rochester researches report fish typically consumed today around
the world usually contains less than 1 ppm, and rarely more than 4 or 5
ppm.

Funded by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, the
scientists will continue their study at least until 2010 to see the
Seychelles children through their teens, a time when, recent animal
studies indicate, the mercury effects on learning, memory and behavior
might start showing up.

More dust of controversy was kicked up by another provocative study,
this one coming out of Texas. The survey of the state's nearly 1,200
school districts noted those with the highest levels of mercury spewed
by fossil-fuel-burning power plants also have the greatest rates of
special-education students and autism diagnoses. Suggestive as it may
be, no proof of a connection has been established.

The disputed significance of these findings aside, it's important to
note they apply to the type of mercury not found in vaccines.

Because the research cupboard for ethylmercury's effects is virtually
bare, government and public health officials have been basing their
safety standards on the more studied and better understood fallout of
methylmercury.

While such a crossover may seem justified, it is not scientifically
validated, scientists say. In fact, they say, evidence is mounting for
striking differences in the way the two compounds are distributed,
metabolized and excreted.

"Methylmercury is not same as (the mercury) in thimerosal; it's
surprising how different they are," said Thomas Burbacher, associate
professor of environmental health, researcher at the Center on Human
Development and Disability, director of the Infant Primate Research
Laboratory at the University of Washington School of Public Health and
Community Medicine in Seattle and lead investigator on the first study
to directly compare the blood and brain levels of the two chemicals in
infant primates.

"It's been used (in EPA guidelines) because there are no data on
ethylmercury, but there are on methylmercury, which has been studied
since 1950," he added. "So you use the information that's available --
assuming it's relevant."

From their experiments with 41 newborn crab-eating monkeys, the
investigators concluded that it's not.

"The current study indicates that (methylmercury) is not a suitable
reference for risk assessment from exposure to thimerosal," they wrote.

(Note: In this multi-part installment, based on dozens of reports,
conferences and interviews, Ped Med is keeping on eye on autism, taking
a backward glance at its history and surrounding controversies, facing
facts revealed by research and looking forward to treatment
enhancements and expansions.)

Next: Mercury effects on the body

UPI Consumer Health welcomes comments on this column. E-mail Lidia
Wasowicz at

Copyright 2006 by United Press International. All Rights Reserved.

An interesting start, Sheri. I'm looking forward to the rest.

Max.

Sheri Nakken RN, MA, Hahnemannian Homeopath wrote:
""It's been used (in EPA guidelines) because there are no data on
ethylmercury, but there are on methylmercury, which has been studied
since 1950," he added. "So you use the information that's available --
assuming it's relevant."
From their experiments with 41 newborn crab-eating monkeys, the
investigators concluded that it's not.
"The current study indicates that (methylmercury) is not a suitable
reference for risk assessment from exposure to thimerosal," they wrote.
(Note: In this multi-part installment, based on dozens of reports,
conferences and interviews, Ped Med is keeping on eye on autism, taking
a backward glance at its history and surrounding controversies, facing
facts revealed by research and looking forward to treatment
enhancements and expansions.)"

http://www.sciencedaily.com/upi/inde...-autism-13.xml

Ped Med: Misstep seen in shot safety study
By LIDIA WASOWICZ

SAN FRANCISCO, Oct. 20 (UPI) -- Researchers analyzing new study results
have concluded the government at least partly botched its job when it
was assessing the danger posed by the mercury-based preservative
thimerosal that once was widely used in children's vaccines.

The story begins in the fall of 1971 with a mission of mercy to
famine-ravaged Iraq. In October of that year, the country received
90,000 metric tons of wheat seed, which, intended for planting as
crops, had been treated with methylmercury, a fungicide similar to yet,
as new research suggests, significantly different from the ethylmercury
found in thimerosal.

Rather than being put in the ground in the rural communities that
acquired it, much of the seed instead was ground and baked as bread. Of
the estimated 50,000 consumers of the treated wheat, more than 6,000
were hospitalized for mercury poisoning, 450 died and many pregnant
women gave birth to children with mental retardation, seizures,
impaired vision or hearing and other birth defects.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency studied the amounts of mercury
in samples of the mothers' blood and hair and the occurrence of
disability in their babies along with other toxicological information
to calculate a "safe" level of exposure to the toxin.

For added protection, the agency then further divided that number by a
factor of 10 to come up with limits considered safe for children
receiving vaccines preserved with thimerosal.

The use of these data to formulate guidelines for the U.S. childhood
immunization program was predicated on two critical assumptions: that
the effects of methylmercury and ethylmercury on the human body are the
same and that these do not differ between fetuses still in the womb and
babies already born. Neither, it turns out, is true, scientists say.

Numerous studies have shown a greater susceptibility to poisons of the
developing central nervous system of the fetus than that of the
newborn, researchers say.

Putting aside the differences between the two types of mercury, that
would mean the EPA erred on the side of caution, at least when it comes
to shots given children, not the ones administered to pregnant women --
who to this day are given thimerosal-containing flu vaccines.

As far as the two types of mercury go, other research paints a picture
of beasts of a different color, and it's not yet clear which one has a
darker disposition toward causing neurological harm in babies, doctors
say.

Because of all the uncertainty, the net effect on a youngster of the
small amounts of toxin once commonly found in immunizations remains
highly disputed.

No one denies that mercury in large doses can wreak developmental havoc
and that exposure to the neurotoxin can affect maturing brains, whether
in the womb or cradle. But there's emphatic disagreement among
scientists on just how much is too much and exactly what damage the
child suffers as a result.

The non-profit Environmental Working Group recently challenged a
long-held view of the womb as a shield against toxins. The analysis of
10 samples of umbilical cord blood from infants born in U.S. hospitals
in August and September 2004 detected 287 of the 413 chemicals for
which the researchers tested.

Of these, 180 have been associated with cancer in humans or animals,
217 with irregularities in the brain and nervous system and 208 with
birth defects or abnormal development in animals, the environmentalists
said.

The EPA itself estimates each year even before they're born, more than
300,000 infants may be exposed to enough mercury to increase their risk
of learning disabilities.

That grim conclusion is based on a 1999-2000 analysis that showed some
8 percent of women in the childbearing years of 16 to 49 had higher
than recommended concentrations of the neurotoxin in their blood. Other
studies showed the rate dropping to 3.9 percent in 2001-2002.

In early 2006, however, interim results released from an ongoing survey
detected mercury levels exceeding EPA safety guidelines in as many as
one in five women in that age group.

The results raise concern "because mercury exposure in the womb can
cause neurological damage and other health problems in children," said
an accompanying statement by the environmental groups Sierra Club and
Greenpeace.

The organizations tested hair samples from more than 6,600 Americans of
all ages from all 50 states in what they called the largest such
project ever conducted. In nearly all of the cases, the mercury source
was a fish-rich diet.

The health consequences of such eating habits are under intense debate.

Studies from the Faroe Islands, an archipelago of 18 isles in the North
Sea between Iceland and Norway, have reported a possible connection
between subtle cognitive deficits, such as performance on attention,
language and memory tests, and methylmercury levels previously thought
to be safe.

But critics double fault the research, which involved a
pilot-whale-eating populace. For one, the multitude of pollutants
contaminating the meat muddies the waters, both literally and
figuratively, making it difficult to discern the effects attributable
to mercury, they say. For another, whatever the consequences, they
likely would not apply to American children, few of whom munch on Moby
Dick sandwiches, they point out.

Less disputed, though still controversial, are the results of a
long-running survey, now in its 16th year, of 779 youngsters born in
1989 or 1990 in the Seychelles Islands, a tiny Indian Ocean nation off
the coast of Africa, whose waters are purer and menu selections more
akin to those gracing U.S. dinner tables.

Other than methylmercury, there are no known contaminants in the tuna,
swordfish and other ocean-dwelling delicacies favored by the locals,
say the investigators from the University of Rochester Medical Center
in New York.

Thus far, they say they have observed no evidence of harm in any of the
children, who are now reaching their 16th birthday, from their mothers
wolfing down an average of 12 fish meals a week during pregnancy --
about 10 times the amount of seafood most Americans find palatable.

The horrifying fallout of consuming mercury-polluted fare on the fetus
caught the world off guard in the 1950s during a poisoning outbreak in
Minamata and Niigata, Japan.

Some pregnant women who feasted on noxious seafood gave birth to babies
with severe developmental disabilities, although they themselves
suffered no ill effects, raising questions of extra fetal sensitivity
to the neurotoxin.

The levels of food contamination with mercury from industrial pollution
-- 50 parts per million -- have not been duplicated since. Some 20
years later, Iraq's tragedy spawned of tainted bread led to studies
that suggested there might be adverse effects from exposures as low as
10 to 20 ppm.

The Rochester researches report fish typically consumed today around
the world usually contains less than 1 ppm, and rarely more than 4 or 5
ppm.

Funded by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, the
scientists will continue their study at least until 2010 to see the
Seychelles children through their teens, a time when, recent animal
studies indicate, the mercury effects on learning, memory and behavior
might start showing up.

More dust of controversy was kicked up by another provocative study,
this one coming out of Texas. The survey of the state's nearly 1,200
school districts noted those with the highest levels of mercury spewed
by fossil-fuel-burning power plants also have the greatest rates of
special-education students and autism diagnoses. Suggestive as it may
be, no proof of a connection has been established.

The disputed significance of these findings aside, it's important to
note they apply to the type of mercury not found in vaccines.

Because the research cupboard for ethylmercury's effects is virtually
bare, government and public health officials have been basing their
safety standards on the more studied and better understood fallout of
methylmercury.

While such a crossover may seem justified, it is not scientifically
validated, scientists say. In fact, they say, evidence is mounting for
striking differences in the way the two compounds are distributed,
metabolized and excreted.

"Methylmercury is not same as (the mercury) in thimerosal; it's
surprising how different they are," said Thomas Burbacher, associate
professor of environmental health, researcher at the Center on Human
Development and Disability, director of the Infant Primate Research
Laboratory at the University of Washington School of Public Health and
Community Medicine in Seattle and lead investigator on the first study
to directly compare the blood and brain levels of the two chemicals in
infant primates.

"It's been used (in EPA guidelines) because there are no data on
ethylmercury, but there are on methylmercury, which has been studied
since 1950," he added. "So you use the information that's available --
assuming it's relevant."

From their experiments with 41 newborn crab-eating monkeys, the
investigators concluded that it's not.

"The current study indicates that (methylmercury) is not a suitable
reference for risk assessment from exposure to thimerosal," they wrote.

(Note: In this multi-part installment, based on dozens of reports,
conferences and interviews, Ped Med is keeping on eye on autism, taking
a backward glance at its history and surrounding controversies, facing
facts revealed by research and looking forward to treatment
enhancements and expansions.)

Next: Mercury effects on the body

UPI Consumer Health welcomes comments on this column. E-mail Lidia
Wasowicz at

Copyright 2006 by United Press International. All Rights Reserved.

Sheri Nakken RN, MA, Hahnemannian Homeopath wrote:
""It's been used (in EPA guidelines) because there are no data on
ethylmercury, but there are on methylmercury, which has been studied
since 1950," he added. "So you use the information that's available --
assuming it's relevant."
From their experiments with 41 newborn crab-eating monkeys, the
investigators concluded that it's not.
"The current study indicates that (methylmercury) is not a suitable
reference for risk assessment from exposure to thimerosal," they wrote.
(Note: In this multi-part installment, based on dozens of reports,
conferences and interviews, Ped Med is keeping on eye on autism, taking
a backward glance at its history and surrounding controversies, facing
facts revealed by research and looking forward to treatment
enhancements and expansions.)"

http://www.sciencedaily.com/upi/inde...-autism-13.xml

Ped Med: Misstep seen in shot safety study
By LIDIA WASOWICZ

Lidia neglects to use her full name. If you want a really BIG surprise:

http://www.capital-books.com/Books/A....aspx?id=10460

"Mark Probert" wrote in message
news:2Op_g.109$%T3.51@trndny03...
Sheri Nakken RN, MA, Hahnemannian Homeopath wrote:
""It's been used (in EPA guidelines) because there are no data on
ethylmercury, but there are on methylmercury, which has been studied
since 1950," he added. "So you use the information that's available --
assuming it's relevant."
From their experiments with 41 newborn crab-eating monkeys, the
investigators concluded that it's not.
"The current study indicates that (methylmercury) is not a suitable
reference for risk assessment from exposure to thimerosal," they wrote.
(Note: In this multi-part installment, based on dozens of reports,
conferences and interviews, Ped Med is keeping on eye on autism, taking
a backward glance at its history and surrounding controversies, facing
facts revealed by research and looking forward to treatment
enhancements and expansions.)"

http://www.sciencedaily.com/upi/inde...-autism-13.xml

Ped Med: Misstep seen in shot safety study
By LIDIA WASOWICZ

Lidia neglects to use her full name. If you want a really BIG surprise:

So what?

Is that the best you can do? Do you use your full name?

http://www.capital-books.com/Books/A....aspx?id=10460