Vaccines Are Not Mercury Free
August 12, 2004
Health Advocacy in the Public Interest (HAPI)
Vaccines Are Not Mercury Free
After much controversy surrounding the mercury content of childhood vaccinations, HAPI raised $500 to have four vaccines tested for heavy metal content at Doctor's Data, an independent lab specializing in heavy metal testing. Many vaccine manufacturers voluntarily began producing supposed "mercury-free" vaccines in 1999. The June, 2004 lab results from Doctor's Data run counter to vaccine manufacturersí claims. For example, some product inserts currently claim that a "trace" amount of mercury still exists in the final product but that the amount has been greatly reduced. Others claim to be producing completely mercury-free products.
All four vaccine vials tested contained mercury despite manufacturer claims that two of the vials were completely mercury free. All four vials also contained aluminum; one contained nine times more than the other three, tremendously enhancing the toxicity of mercury which causes neuronal death in the brain.
Thimerosal, a 50% mercury compound is still being used to produce most vaccines, but the manufacturers claim to be ìfiltering it outî of the final product. However, according to Boyd Haley, PhD, Chemistry Department Chair, University of Kentucky, mercury binds to the antigenic protein in the vaccine and cannot be completely filtered out. It is now well known that mercury in vaccines is associated with autism and other neurological disorders in children; 1 in 166 children is now autistic and 1 in 6 have neurological disorders such as ADD, ADHD, etc.
It is the position of Dr. Haley and HAPI that the mercury content of vaccines should be disclosed in the product insert, and that manufacturers should not be allowed to call the product ìmercury-freeî if mercury can be detected using standard instrumentation. Dawn Winkler, co-founder of HAPI, met with FDA officials in Silver Spring, Maryland on July 27, 2004 to discuss the blatant mislabeling and misrepresentation of ingredients in vaccinations with are licensed by the FDA.
Dawn learned that the FDA has the ability and authority to take on the necessary testing but is unwilling to do so at present. Therefore, this important and expensive task sadly appears to be up to the public. HAPI is attempting to raise more funds for further testing in an effort to pressure the FDA to enforce manufacturers to label their products correctly.
Please help fund further testing. Anything you contribute could well make the difference in children’s lives between chronic illness and a normal, healthy future.