Underground Knowledge — A discussion group discussion

Excerpt from Chapter 16 of Vaccine Science Revisited: Are Childhood Immunizations As Safe As Claimed?:


Mercury – the swift traveler

“It does indeed seem absurd that an organic disposition should make beings more fragile, more susceptible to poisons, for in most cases everything in living beings seems disposed to assure them a greater power of resistance.” – Dr. Charles Richet (French physiologist)


The body has an amazing capacity to take care of itself. It contains highly intricate molecules that work hard at keeping our bodies as healthy as possible. One of the body’s very own molecules to do this is glutathione (GSH). Its job is to clean house. It makes sure your cells are not hoarding all kinds of garbage it doesn’t need. As diligent as this little molecule is, it is also sensitive to certain toxic exposures. Unfortunately, vaccines are adding hard-to-dodge obstacles in their path.

In order to understand the overall importance of what the glutathione does and the consequences of the potential exposure of some vaccines, we need to first take a look at its function within the body and then see what happens when it’s under attack.

Our body is constantly producing glutathione protein molecules. Its superpower is its sticky and stinky sulfur content. Because it is so sticky, heavy metals and toxins, such as free radicals and mercury, stick to it. When materials stick to the glutathione, it takes it out with the trash and the unwanted materials end up in our feces. It’s not surprising that glutathione also plays a vital role “in normal intestinal function.”

Normally, our body just recycles our glutathione, which in turn recycles antioxidants. When our body experiences oxidative stress or is bombarded with too many toxins, it has a hard time keeping up. When this happens, the glutathione is overworked and the body is unable to recycle it fast enough and it gets used up (no more sticky stuff). This means we are no longer recycling our antioxidants to fight off free radicals. This in turn causes oxidative stress. Our battle is taking its toll and cellular functions suffer.

Glutathione (GSH) is extremely important if we want our immune system to work properly.

A paper published in 2014 on glutathione states:

“GSH also has crucial functions in the brain as an antioxidant, neuromodulator, neurotransmitter, and enabler of neuron survival.”

Glutathione is produced in the liquid portion (cytosol) inside our cells. There are many cellular functions that need glutathione in order to operate properly. For instance, glutathione is also in the nucleus where it helps produce and repair DNA. The mitochondria also contain glutathione, the mitochondrial glutathione (mGSH). In this mitochondrial form, it helps keep the cell alive.


Fighting the free radicals

The mitochondria are the parts inside the cells that consume the most oxygen. They contain a lot of antioxidants and detoxifying agents. The most important agent is perhaps the mitochondrial glutathione because it protects the mitochondria from things like premature cell death. The mitochondria are constantly exposed to free radicals, and glutathione is at the forefront fighting against them.

When a cell dies, so does its glutathione content. So, when a cell prematurely dies, the body is losing its glutathione supply.

One of the organs that has the most glutathione is the liver. The kidney is another one with a lot of glutathione. It would therefore not be surprising if a disease of an organ, like the liver, would be related to lack of glutathione in liver cells.

Nor is it surprising that doctors warn that acetaminophen is hard on the liver when you understand that acetaminophen depletes the glutathione (GSH) in the liver cells. It reduces the mitochondrial glutathione (mGSH), which makes the cell more defenseless against free radicals or oxidative stress.

We did some reading on neurological disorders and it seemed many are contributed to oxidative stress and mitochondrial dysfunction.

Scientists say:

“[…], a reduction in both cellular and mitochondrial GSH levels results in increased oxidative stress and a decrease in mitochondrial function […].”

One cannot help but wonder about the vaccines’ role in all this. As our brain uses a lot of oxygen, it is prone to much oxidative stress. Compared to a healthy active person, the brain of an infant or an elderly person is less likely to be able to fight the stress. This can lead to such things as Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and Parkinson’s disease in the elderly.

We wonder then if it is possible it could lead to neurological disorders, such as autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in children.


Toxin magnet

The liver is an important organ that delivers glutathione into the blood and to other organs. When it comes to protecting our organs, the glutathione’s most important job is to detoxify. It’s therefore also important to have plenty of glutathione in our lungs. As you know, lungs are a major oxygen-containing organ and can also be full of toxins from the air we breathe.

One toxin presented to us in some vaccines is thimerosal, even though mostly in only trace amounts. Glutathione draws it out of the body via the kidney and liver. Once thimerosal is in liquid, it decomposes into ethylmercury hydroxide and ethylmercury chloride. Glutathione helps eliminate the ethylmercury. If our glutathione system doesn’t function properly, it won’t be able to help get rid of the ethylmercury.

Glutathione is one of our main defenders against the toxic effects thimerosal has on our cells. When our cells are attacked by toxic levels of thimerosal, it depletes the glutathione within our cells.

After our main defenders, glutathione, have been depleted and we continue to be repeatedly exposed to thimerosal, it’s not so surprising that our cells are easily invaded and killed. Perhaps lack of glutathione can be a genetic defect in some individuals? If such a thing exists, could some children suffer extreme reactions when vaccinated, even with just trace amounts of toxins?

As a matter of fact, after looking it up, glutathione deficiency exists. An example is glutathione synthetase deficiency. Individuals with this disorder are unable to produce glutathione. This specific disorder comes in a mild, moderate or severe form.

Those with the severe form may experience:

“[...] seizures; a generalized slowing down of physical reactions, movements, and speech (psychomotor retardation); intellectual disability; and a loss of coordination (ataxia). Some people [...] develop recurrent bacterial infections.”

We feel it’s safe to assume that those who have some type of glutathione deficiency may react severely to vaccines. In addition, we find the above descriptions similar to that of severe reactions to vaccines. Perhaps vaccines can affect glutathione production even in healthy babies and consequently cause the above symptoms.


Girls and boys

Another link in the chain is uncovered in some of the research into neuroblastoma cell lines. Neuroblastoma cells are cancer cells often used when researching nerve cells. Neuroblasts are immature or naïve nerve cells that haven’t been told yet what they are.

Several online articles mention that boys are more prone to adverse reactions to thimerosal than girls. How can this be? Thimerosal affects the neuroblastoma cells by telling it to self-destruct. That sounds like a good thing, don’t we want cancer cells to self-destruct? As great as that sounds, it’s not so great considering the fact it will do it to normal cells as well.

How can this be gender-based?

One reason males may be more prone to adverse reactions to thimerosal is the relationship between testosterone and nerve cell development. Testosterone causes almost an instantaneous increase in calcium (Ca) inside the neuroblastoma cells. The calcium is extremely important in growing neurons for proper brain function and proper function of the nervous system.

Researchers injected neuroblastoma cells with a small amount of thimerosal to see what would happen to the nerve cell. They saw physical changes in the cells, including changes in the cell surface, the membrane.
The researchers watched as the cell withered away. They also noticed that important substances were leaking out of the mitochondria and identified these substances as ones that play an active role in cell destruction. Therefore, these events caused the cell to self-destruct prematurely.

When the cells are exposed to too much testosterone it causes damage which may change a person’s behavior. Suicidal thoughts being one such change. We found a paper that explains the effects testosterone has on nerve cells. The authors of the paper showed a correlation between overstimulation of this self-destruction process and disorders such as Alzheimer’s disease and Huntington disease.

Sounds familiar? The effect of ethylmercury on neuroblastoma cells is quite similar to that of over-active testosterone levels in neuroblastoma cells. Not only is it similar to testosterone, but it also mimics formaldehyde’s (FA) effect on the microtubular structure in the cytoskeleton. So not only is it messing with the self-destruction code, but the mercury also tears down our microtubules as we talked about in the book’s section on formaldehyde.

A healthy production of testosterone is necessary in order to keep the calcium in check inside the cell. Too much testosterone, can kill nerve cells. The above research paper concludes that “effects of testosterone on neurons will have long term effects on brain function.” Mercury affects the production of testosterone.

The study tested this by using estrogen as well. Estrogen did not have any effect on the cell’s integrity. Their explanation was “that normal levels of testosterone are necessary” in order to have the right amount of calcium “to maintain homeostasis” .

When we have an increased level of testosterone, this changes the calcium signal and results in the killing of nerve cells. It has also been shown that estrogen is able to keep the calcium (Ca) levels stable. This maintains the functional homeostasis and protects mitochondria from oxidative stress.
The next question is why estrogen doesn’t do the same damage. The paper continues by explaining how estrogen is able “to protect neurons from a number of toxic insults” . Not only that, but we learned it also protected the cell from dying by being exposed to heavy metals such as mercury. Estrogen has also been shown to protect us from diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and Parkinson’s. It’s also known to protect the nerves by ensuring the mitochondria are functioning properly.

The disturbance of testosterone and estrogen production in a developing body can potentially seriously affect the neurons. With mercury playing a role in this disturbance, especially in testosterone production, why are we concerned about its effect in terms of childhood vaccines? Mercury was removed from childhood vaccines and the trace amounts we spoke of earlier doesn’t seem to be enough to elicit a concern of this magnitude.

In order to understand how this can potentially cause serious issues in children who have some kind of immune weakness, we need to look at what mercury-free (trace amount) vaccines means to a compromised immune system.

References for Chapter 16: Mercury, the swift traveler:

Lushchak, V.I. (2012). Glutathione Homeostasis and Functions: Potential Targets for Medical Interventions. Journal of Amino Acids, 2012: 736837. http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2012/736837
Morris, G., Anderson, G., Dean, O., Berk, M., Galecki, P., Martin-Subero, M., and Maes, M. (2014). The Glutathione System: A New Drug Target in Neuroimmune Disorder. Mol Neurobiol, 50(3), 1059–1084
Lushchak, V.I. (2012). Glutathione Homeostasis and Functions: Potential Targets for Medical Interventions. Journal of Amino Acids, 2012: 736837.
Marí, M., Morales, A., Colell, A., García-Ruiz, C., & Fernández-Checa, J. C. (2009). Mitochondrial glutathione, a key survival antioxidant. Antioxidants & redox signaling, 11(11), 2685-2700.
Vendemiale, G., Grattagliano ,I., Altomare, E., Turturro, N. and, Guerrieri, F. (1996). Effect of acetaminophen administration on hepatic glutathione compartmentation and mitochondrial energy metabolism in the rat. Biochem Pharmacol, 52(8), 1147-1154.
Marí, M., Morales, A., Colell, A., García-Ruiz, C., & Fernández-Checa, J. C. (2009). Mitochondrial glutathione, a key survival antioxidant. Antioxidants & redox signaling, 11(11), 2685-2700.
Schultz, J.B., Lindenau, J., Seyfried, J., and Dichgans, J. (2000). Glutathione, oxidative stress and neurodegeneration. Eur J Biochem, 267(16), 4904-4911.
Song, Z., Cawthon, D., Beers, K., and Bottje, W.G. (2000). Hepatic and extra-hepatic stimulation of glutathione release into plasma by norepinephrine in vivo. Poult Sci, 79(11), 1632-1639.
Geier, D.A., King, P.G., Hooker, B.S., Dórea, J.G., Kern, J.K., Sykes, L.K., and Geier, M.R. (2015). Thimerosal: Clinical, epidemiologic and biochemical studies. Clinica Chimica Acta, 444, 212-220.
Westphal, G.A., Schnuch, A., Schulz, T.G., Reich, K., Aberer, W., Brasch, J., ... Hallier, E. (2000). Homozygous gene deletions of the glutathione S-transferases M1 and T1 are associated with thimerosal sensitization. Int Arch Occup Environ Health, 73(6), 384-388.
James, S.J, Slikker, W. 3rd., Melnyk, S., New, E., Pogribna, M., and Jernigan, S. (2005). Thimerosal neurotoxicity is associated with glutathione depletion: protection with glutathione precursors. Neurotoxicology, 26(1), 1-8.
NIH.U.S. (2018, December 18). National Library of Medicine. Glutathione synthetase deficiency. Retrieved from https://ghr.nlm.nih.gov/condition/glu...
Humphrey, M.L., Cole, M.P., Pendergrass, J.C., and Kiningham, K.K. (2005). Mitochondrial mediated thimerosal-induced apoptosis in a human neuroblastoma cell line (SK-NSH). Neurotoxicology, 26(3), 407-416.
Estrada, M., Varshney, A., and Ehrlich, B. (2006). Elevated Testosterone Induces Apoptosis in Neuronal Cells. J Biol Chem, 281(35), 25492-25501
University of Calgary. [steffyweffy777]. (2007, May 15). How Mercury Causes Brain Neuron Damage – Uni. of Calgary. [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XU8nS...
Estrada, M., Varshney, A., and Ehrlich, B. (2006). Elevated Testosterone Induces Apoptosis in Neuronal Cells. The Journal of Biological Chemistry, 281(35), 25492-25501
Heath, J.C, Abdelmageed, Y., Braden, T.D., and Goya, H.O. (2012). The Effects of Chronic Ingestion of Mercuric Chloride on Fertility and Testosterone Levels in Male Sprague Dawley Rats. Journal of Biomedicine and Biotechnology, 2012, 815186
Chen, H., Pechenino, A. S., Liu, J., Beattie, M. C., Brown, T. R., & Zirkin, B. R. (2008). Effect of glutathione depletion on Leydig cell steroidogenesis in young and old brown Norway rats. Endocrinology, 149(5), 2612-2619.
Estrada, M., Varshney, A., and Ehrlich, B. (2006). Elevated Testosterone Induces Apoptosis in Neuronal Cells. J Biol Chem, 281(35), 25492-25501
Ibid.
Simpkins, J. W., Perez, E., Wang, X., Yang, S., Wen, Y., & Singh, M. (2009). The potential for estrogens in preventing Alzheimer's disease and vascular dementia. Therapeutic advances in neurological disorders, 2(1), 31-49.
Ibid.
Olivieri, G., Novakovic, M., Savaskan, E., Meier, F., Baysang, G., Brockhaus, M., and Müller-Spahn, F. (2002). The effects of beta-estradiol on SHSY5Y neuroblastoma cells during heavy metal induced oxidative stress, neurotoxicity and beta-amyloid secretion. Neuroscience, 113(4), 849-855.

Excerpt from Chapter 17 in Vaccine Science Revisited: Are Childhood Immunizations As Safe As Claimed?:


Mercury, the ungodly element

"[E]ating a peppermint before bed justifies not brushing your teeth because it gives the same flavour" – Unknown.


Now that we know a little bit more about what’s going on inside our cells when we are exposed to heavy metals, let’s to take closer look at mercury. According to the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), there are three forms of mercury:

“[...] elemental mercury, inorganic mercury compounds (primarily mercuric chloride), and organic mercury compounds (primarily methyl mercury). All forms of mercury are quite toxic, and each form exhibits different health effects.”

Thimerosal is a type of organic mercurial compound. Mercury (Hg) is elemental and a heavy liquid state. Methyl Mercury (CH3Hg) is organic and a solid state and Thimerosal (C9H9HgNaO2S) is organic and a solid state.

As you can see, these are three different compounds. Both methylmercury and thimerosal are organic and solid. Note that it’s in the form of thimerosal and not ethylmercury. As mentioned earlier, thimerosal turns into ethylmercury when in liquid.

When reading the vaccine ingredient label, take notice whether it says thimerosal or mercury. Thimerosal contains about 50% mercury. So, when it says the thimerosal in a vaccine is “50 micrograms per 0.5 mL dose” , which is a normal size dose for injection, that means that it contains about “25 micrograms of mercury per 0.5 mL dose”.

You’ve most likely heard that mercury has been removed from vaccines. So it was, at least for the most part. Thimerosal, which is the ethylmercury component used in vaccines, is found in vaccines for influenza, tetanus, Japanese encephalitis, meningococcal and Td.

There used to be a lot more mercury in vaccines and it was added for a very good reason. During the vaccine manufacturing process, it is likely the vaccine vial becomes contaminated with living organisms. It’s also likely that when performing multiple needle pokes into a multi-dose vial, it becomes contaminated with living organisms.

Mercury was added to multidose vials in order to protect us from being injected with these unknown living organisms. According to the FDA, the amount of thimerosal in vaccines “kills the specified challenge organisms and is able to prevent the growth of the challenge fungi.”

The FDA gives a quick history of how thimerosal has been used in vaccines since the 1930s, stating:

“Since then, thimerosal has a long record of safe and effective use preventing bacterial and fungal contamination of vaccines, with no ill effect established other than minor local reactions at the site of injection.”


How much is trace?

In the CDC’s pink book (referenced above), it says there can be up to 0.3 µg of mercury left in the vaccine after thimerosal has been removed. It’s important to note there is a difference between thimerosal and mercury. We have noticed when discussing mercury in vaccines with others, they use thimerosal and mercury interchangeably as if they were the same thing.

The FDA states:

“Since 2001, all vaccines manufactured for the U.S. market and routinely recommended for children ≤ 6 years of age have contained no thimerosal or only trace amounts (≤ 1 microgram of mercury per dose remaining from the manufacturing process), with the exception of inactivated influenza vaccine.”

We noticed the CDC and the FDA show two different cut-offs for what constitutes trace amounts. The CDC specifies 0.3 µg in one dose:

“Evaluated detection limits were 0.3 µg TM [thimerosal] and 3.0 µg Al, which corresponds to the smallest, but possible to recognize, visible peak.”

The FDA doesn’t appear to agree with this lower limit, because as stated above, they specify 1.0 µg per dose as an accepted amount in their thimerosal-free vaccines.

We thought it strange that these two organizations would have such variation in what defines a trace amount. We looked into it a little closer and found the discrepancy to be even larger than expected. The CDC is actually referring to thimerosal, while the FDA is referring to mercury.

As mentioned above, the 0.3 µg thimerosal is derived from the fact that it’s the limit of detection for the methods used to test for thimerosal. This means if there is 0.29 µg thimerosal in the vaccine, it will show up as no thimerosal detected. According to the FDA, these vaccines are labeled “thimerosal-free”. The CDC demonstrated slightly more concern, and in 2001, they:

“[R]efused even to express a preference for thimerosal-free vaccines, despite the fact that thimerosal had been removed from almost every childhood vaccine produced for use in the United States.”

When it comes to what the FDA considers a trace amount (1 µg mercury or less/dose) amounts to 2 µg thimerosal or less/dose.
So, when the FDA states there’s either no thimerosal or trace amounts of thimerosal in the vaccines, they are in reality saying thimerosal is anywhere from 0 µg to 2 µg.

According to the FDA website, in 1999 the FDA conducted an in-depth analysis on thimerosal and its use in childhood vaccines.
They “found no evidence of harm from the use of thimerosal as a vaccine preservative, other than local hypersensitivity reactions.”

What is interesting here is that the FDA doesn’t seem to be concerned that thimerosal causes local hypersensitive reactions. This is interesting because, taking local hypersensitivity
into account, the Pittman-Moore Company found Merthiolate (aka thimerosal) to be:

“[…] unsatisfactory as a preservative for serum intended for use on dogs”

So, Merthiolate is not desirable for uses in dogs, but in humans it’s okay?

Let’s get back to the trace amounts and work on those numbers a little to see what they mean. One vaccine dose is 0.5 ml. We are going with the CDC’s guidelines where the maximum trace amount of mercury allowed is 0.3 µg/0.5 ml. This is the same as 600 parts per billion (ppb).

The United States Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) safety levels are calculated in mg/l and ppb. According to the EPA, the maximum amount of inorganic mercury allowed in drinking water is 0.002 mg/l or 2 ppb. This means the max trace amounts in vaccines is 300 times above the maximum allowed in drinking water. By the way, inorganic is considered less harmful than organic mercury.

Note that we are comparing inorganic mercury (drinking water) to thimerosal, which is organic mercury. This is why we mentioned the different types of mercury in the beginning of this chapter. We want you to be aware that although it’s all mercury, it’s not all the same.

We also want to mention that by the time mercury reaches the brain, it has changed into an inorganic form. When ethylmercury is transported out of the muscle and into the tissues, it quickly converts into an inorganic form of mercury. This has to do with the red blood cells’ ability to convert it.

A multidose influenza vaccine contains 25 µg of thimerosal. As mentioned above, 1.0 µg/l is the same as 1 ppb. Since there is 25 µg in 0.5 ml dose, this is the same as 50,000 ppb in one single flu shot.

According to the Healthcare Environmental Resource Center, a waste substance that “contains more than 0.2 mg per liter mercury, the waste is considered hazardous.” A quick reminder, 0.2 mg per liter mercury is the same as 200 ppb mercury. Thimerosal contains 50% mercury.

According to our calculations, this means that a substance needs to contain 400 ppb of thimerosal to be considered hazardous waste. Compared to the 50,000 ppb thimerosal in the influenza vaccine, we can safely say that it contains more than a hundred times more thimerosal than the legal limit of a toxic waste.


References for Chapter 17: Mercury, the ungodly element:

United States Environmental Protection Agency. (2000, January). Mercury Compounds. Retrieved from https://www.epa.gov/sites/production/...
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). (2009, November). Mercury. Retrieved from https://www.cdc.gov/biomonitoring/pdf...
Broussard, L.A., Hammett-Stabler, C.A., Winecker, R.E., and Ropero-Miller, J.D. (2002). The Toxicology of Mercury. laboratorymedicine, 8(33), 614-625.
U.S. Food and Drug Administration. (2018, February 2). Thimerosal and Vaccines. Retrieve from https://www.fda.gov/biologicsbloodvac...
Immunization Action Coalition. (2018, October). Administering Vaccines: Dose, Route, Site, and Needle Size. Retrieved from http://www.immunize.org/catg.d/p3085.pdf
U.S. Food and Drug Administration. (2018, February 2). Thimerosal and Vaccines. Retrieve from https://www.fda.gov/biologicsbloodvac...
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). (2015, April). Pink Book-Appendix B-Vaccines. Retrieved from https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/pubs/pin...
U.S. Food and Drug Administration. (2018, February 5). Thimerosal in Vaccines Questions and Answers. Retrieved from https://www.fda.gov/biologicsbloodvac...
U.S. Food and Drug Administration. (2018, February 5). Thimerosal in Vaccines Questions and Answers. Retrieved from https://www.fda.gov/biologicsbloodvac...
U.S. Food and Drug Administration. (2018, February 5). Thimerosal in Vaccines Questions and Answers. Retrieved from https://www.fda.gov/BiologicsBloodVac...
Zareba, M., Sanecki, P.T, and Rawski, R. (2016). Simultaneous Determination of Thimerosal and Aluminum in Vaccines and Pharmaceuticals with the Use of HPLC Method. Acta Chromatographica, 28(3), 299–311.
Ibid.
U.S. Food and Drug Administration. (2018, February 5). Thimerosal in Vaccines Questions and Answers. Retrieved from https://www.fda.gov/biologicsbloodvac...
Burton, D. (2003, May30). Mercury in Medicine. [Congressional Report]. Retrieved from https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/CREC-20...
U.S. Food and Drug Administration. (2018, February 5). Thimerosal in Vaccines Questions and Answers. Retrieved from https://www.fda.gov/biologicsbloodvac...
Burton, D. (2003, May30). Mercury in Medicine. [Congressional Report]. Retrieved from https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/CREC-20...
endmemo. (n.d.). Microgram/ml ↔ Part per billion Conversion. Retrieved from http://www.endmemo.com/sconvert/ug_ml...
United States Environmental Protection Agency. (2018, March 22). National Primary Drinking Water Regulations. Retrieved from https://www.epa.gov/ground-water-and-...
Carneiro, M.F., Oliveira Souza, J.M., Grotto, D., Batista, B.L., de Oliveira Souza, V.C., and Barbosa, F. Jr. (2014). A systematic study of the disposition and metabolism of mercury species in mice after exposure to low levels of thimerosal (ethylmercury). Environmental Research, 134, 218-227.
Healthcare Environmental Resource Center. (n.d.). Mercury in Healthcare Facilities. Retrieved from http://www.hercenter.org/hazmat/mercu...

Excerpt from Chapter 18 in Vaccine Science Revisited: Are Childhood Immunizations As Safe As Claimed?:


Mercury, it’s everywhere

“Man was born free, and he is everywhere in chains.” – Jean-Jacques Rousseau (French philosopher).


Although not a part of the childhood vaccine schedule, the influenza vaccine is still given to children and childbearing women.
We wonder what kind of impact this can have on a developing fetus or a breastfeeding infant. Even if what authorities say about mercury in the vaccine being safe or not toxic enough on its own is true, how does it fare when in contact with other vaccine ingredients?

It appears that our bodies have become a toxic dumping ground, but it’s okay, because only trace amounts are being dumped each time, right?

It’s important to note not all flu vaccines contain thimerosal. There are flu vaccines available that are labeled “thimerosal-free”. We encourage those who decide to be vaccinated against the flu to ask which flu vaccine you’re about to receive.

The ethylmercury in vaccines has often been compared to the toxic methylmercury contaminating our waters and the fish we eat. Because of this, pregnant women, for instance, are told not to consume fish. Many argue that we are injecting infants and pregnant mothers with a substance they are advised not to eat.

In one article Paul Offit says:

“Ethylmercury is broken down and excreted much more rapidly than methylmercury. Therefore, ethylmercury (the type of mercury in the influenza vaccine) is much less likely than methylmercury (the type of mercury in the environment) to accumulate in the body and cause harm.”

This very article was reviewed by Dr. Paul Offit himself in 2018. It’s not our intent to pick on Dr. Offit. We are merely using him as a source due to his respected standing within the vaccine field in the scientific community. We feel confident his statements are based on what is considered to be solid opinions within the scope of vaccine research.

A 2002 paper by Pichichero, which supports Dr. Offit’s statement, is often used as a reference to prove mercury in vaccines is safe.

This paper “aimed to measure concentrations of mercury in blood, urine, and stools of infants who received such vaccines.”

Interestingly, the authors stated that “allergic reactions have been rarely noted, but no harmful effects have been reported.” They linked this statement to a paper from 1988. How about in the 14 years since the study? Were there no reports of value in those years? I’m sure any one of you can find reports of this sort.

After collecting samples from both test group and control group, the researchers found that “[m]ercury was undetectable in most of the urine samples from the infants in this study”.

A test group consists of subjects receiving a substance being tested. In this case it’s mercury. A control group consists of subjects not receiving the substance being tested. These groups are then compared to each other to observe any impact the substance may have.

In the stool samples from infants in the test group, the researchers did find mercury, mostly inorganic mercury. This isn’t surprising given we now know thimerosal turns into inorganic mercury. And after finding out MSG eliminates mercury through the stool, this is to be expected. If you have been exposed to mercury then it should be there (in the stool) just as you’d see in healthy individuals exposed to mercury. The concern would be if there was no mercury measured in the stool.

Stool samples from infants in the control group were not collected.

How can the researchers compare the importance of finding mercury in the stool of the mercury-exposed test group? To us, the logical answer would be that it is an indicator the mercury is being excreted, but we’d like to see the amount excreted being compared to the amount of mercury being injected.

We’re not sure how relevant their findings are because, as we understand it, all they are saying is that it appears the GSH is clearing out the mercury as it’s supposed to do or that the body is actively eliminating the toxin. These are healthy infants, so this is to be expected. But the paper makes no mention of the expected amount of mercury to be excreted when injected with the vaccines these infants were given. Nor does it say anything about the elimination of mercury of infants with weakened immune response.

Since they didn’t collect stool sample from the control group, in order to compare and to see if dietary sources contaminated with mercury could be a factor, they chose nine other babies (unrelated to the study) who had not been injected with thimerosal-containing vaccine. The babies in this group, which was less than half the size of the regular control group, turned out to have a “significantly lower” amount of mercury in their stool. This is only to be expected and not at all surprising.

God only knows why they deviated from the study design in this manner, omitting the control group infants and picking nine other infants who were not a part of the study, is a mystery to us. They didn’t explain this.

The researchers also measured the blood half-life of ethylmercury by measuring the mercury blood levels consistently over many days. In the end they estimated the half-life to be seven days. This means that when the mercury was no longer measurable in the blood, it was assumed to be cleared out of the body.

Even though the researchers measured mercury levels in the infants, no blood samples were collected in the first 72 hours.

Could there be reasons, other than excretion, for mercury to leave the bloodstream? How about traveling to the brain with help of, for instance, polysorbate 80? Could this not explain the lack of mercury in the blood? We feel concerns of this caliber should warrant a proper study comparing levels of excreted mercury to injected mercury.

If not all sources are being measured, it’s difficult to accept a definitive conclusion.

Three years later, in 2005, another study was published comparing methylmercury to thimerosal in vaccines. This study was performed on macaque monkeys and focused on the mercury levels in the brain, not the urine or the stool.

The study was designed to see if the mercury dose in the vaccine was safe since it was based on methylmercury rather than ethylmercury.

The researchers state that:

“Studies in preterm infants indicate that blood levels of Hg after just one vaccination (hepatitis B) increase by >10-fold to levels above the US EPA guidelines.”

The macaque monkeys in both the ethylmercury group and the methylmercury group showed similar levels of mercury immediately after distribution.

The methylmercury seemed to have a much higher tendency to accumulate in the blood while the ethylmercury cleared out very quickly from the blood. Instead of being eliminated from the body, the scientists noticed it was escaping across the blood-brain barrier (BBB).

When kidneys were tested, much higher levels of mercury were found in the thimerosal-injected group. This would correlate with the fact that mercury sticks to GSH and our kidneys have a large amount of GSH.

When measuring mercury levels in the brain, it was noted ethylmercury left much higher levels of inorganic mercury than did methylmercury (“up to 71% vs. 10%”).

While ethylmercury is quick to leave the blood and enter our organs, including the brain, we can’t see how this makes it safer than methylmercury which stays in the blood longer before it’s cleared out.


Life of mercury

What about the half-life of organic vs. inorganic mercury? “The estimated half-life of organic Hg in the brain” is about 37 days and “The estimated half-life of inorganic Hg in the brain [. . .] varied greatly across some regions of the brain, from 227 days to 540 days.”

The researchers continue stating that:

“In other regions, the concentrations of inorganic Hg remained the same (thalamus) or doubled (pituitary) 6 months after exposure to MeHg had ended” .

Their finding appears to be that the ethylmercury clears the blood quicker, but isn’t being eliminated from the body, rather it’s traveling to the brain and other organs, including the kidneys, while methylmercury lingers in the blood longer before it reaches the brain.

Therefore:

“Consequently, MeHg is not a suitable reference for risk assessment from exposure to thimerosal-derived Hg.”

Another study concludes “that MeHg does not appear to be a good model for EtHg-containing compounds.” Yet, the official guidelines don’t seem to make this distinction.

Drs. Thomas Verstraeten and Frank DeStefano, performed a study assessing “the possible toxicity of thimerosal-containing vaccines (TCVs) among infants.”

They conclude:

“No consistent significant associations were found between TCVs and neurodevelopmental outcomes.”

Regarding the lifespan of ethylmercury from vaccine in the blood, a research summary from the Health & Human Services Committee, states:

“The half life is 5-7 days, meaning that half the injected dose of mercury leaves the blood in that time period, on average. There is considerable individual variation. […] exposures from non-vaccine sources would increase the blood mercury levels.”

Through other research, we know that even though the mercury has left the bloodstream, it doesn’t mean it has left the body. The message is a little confusing. The researchers say the half-life is 5-7 days, but that’s when it is being measured in the blood. But what if in 5-7 days the ethylmercury has vanished because it has traveled to the brain and not because of its half-life? Maybe this is not the true half-life for mercury in blood, but rather a measure of how long it takes until it travels to organs.

We decided to look into this so we visited our favorite webpage on chemicals, the National Institutes of Health’s (NIH) open chemistry database. We found what we were looking for in section 8.7 Biological Half-Life. The NIH linked their source to the Drugbank. The NIH, or the Drugbank, had completely different estimates for the half-lives of thimerosal. They link their sources to a research paper in the Environmental Journal and the University of Minnesota . Unfortunately, during the final polishing of this book, the latter source doesn’t appear to be available any longer.

The NIH summarizes its sources to:

“Estimated half-lives (in days) were 8.8 for blood, 10.7 for brain, 7.8 for heart, 7.7 for liver and 45.2 for kidney [L1685]. The long half-life of ethylmercury (~50 days on average in humans) results in accumulation that may be harmful to the developing fetal brain, as it is more susceptible to organomercurial compounds than the adult brain [L1687].”

That being said, in section 8.5 they refer to Pichichero’s study, which we mentioned at the start of this chapter.

It states that:

“Estimated blood half-life of ethylmercury was 7 days.”
Their discussion doesn’t end here. In section 8.8 they continue by explaining that thimerosal’s behavior is not well understood. For those who understand chemistry, you may prefer to read the section for clarification. However, for the rest of us, it says, in a nutshell, that thimerosal has the ability to release calcium from our cells. This results in an excess amount of calcium outside the cell. Because our body uses calcium for various functions, this transfer of calcium can mess up those functions.

Since ethylmercury is a lipophilic cation, meaning it is positively charged and dissolves in fat, it can cross the blood-brain barrier.

This is an important note, because, as this section states:

“It has been demonstrated that lipophilic cations accumulate inside mitochondria […].

Excerpt (cont'd) from Chapter 18 in Vaccine Science Revisited: Are Childhood Immunizations As Safe As Claimed?:


After reviewing various sources, it has now become apparent to us that research papers on the life of mercury in our body can reach various conclusions depending on which source is used to interpret the data.

We feel confident in the validity of our concern that ethylmercury, or thimerosal, travels to the brain and our other organs rather than being completely excreted from the body.


Skulls & bones

Thimerosal has two Globally Harmonized Systems (GHS) hazard statements. One is from the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) and the other from NITE-CMC. The ECHA statements are a collection of statements from 84 companies. Let’s see what these agencies think about thimerosal.

ECHA has labeled thimerosal with health hazard and environment hazard warnings inclusive of the universal skull & crossbones images. That agency informs us thimerosal is both toxic and fatal when swallowed, fatal if it comes in contact with your skin or is inhaled. When there is an extended contact with thimerosal, it can damage the organs.

NITE-CMC have labeled thimerosal similarly along with it being toxic if swallowed. They don’t mention it’s deadly, as ECHA did. Instead of saying it’s fatal at skin contact, they say that it “[m]ay cause an allergic reaction”. What they do mention, which ECHA doesn’t, is the fact that there’s a chance it can cause genetic defects and cancers. Both agencies agree on the damage it causes organs.

The SDS sheet for thimerosal classifies it as class 6.1, which means it is poisonous. What does it say the Potential Acute Health Effects are?

“Hazardous in case of skin contact (irritant), of ingestion, of inhalation. Slightly hazardous in case of eye contact (irritant). Severe over-exposure can result in death.”

What about Potential Chronic Health Effects?

“CARCINOGENIC EFFECTS: Not available. MUTAGENIC EFFECTS: Mutagenic for mammalian somatic cells. TERATOGENIC EFFECTS: Not available. DEVELOPMENTAL TOXICITY: Not available. The substance may be toxic to kidneys, liver, spleen, bone marrow, central nervous system (CNS).”

The Special Remarks on the toxic effects on humans are too long to list. They seem to cover just about any adverse health effect known to Man, and they detail such a wide variety of signs and symptoms.

The SDS sheet also states that thimerosal reacts adversely to oxidizing agents. These take electrons away from other molecules.
As you may remember, polysorbate 80 (p80) has an electron to give away. Oxygen is an oxidizing agent , so it takes the electron that p80 is giving away.

Our red blood cells carry oxygen on their surface. Thimerosal reacts badly to oxygen. When thimerosal enters blood, it’s converted from organic form into inorganic form.

We’re not chemists and find it difficult to connect the dots with all the research data we’ve gathered. Nevertheless, we feel there is more dot-connecting to be done in this area.

A study was performed using micro- and nanomolar concentrations of thimerosal to mimic the amounts used in products such as vaccines. After incubating thimerosal in live cell cultures for six hours, it became toxic. The researchers observed that even in these miniscule amounts, the thimerosal “rapidly induce membrane and DNA damage and initiate [. . .] apoptosis in human neurons and fibroblasts.”

Apoptosis means cell death. It’s confusing to us to understand how this is even a discussion. We understand that most infants are healthy and appear to be vaccinated without any harm. But are they really? What about when symptoms present themselves months or years down the road?

More children are developing allergies than ever before. More children are developing learning difficulties than ever before. More children are developing gut issues than ever before. More children are developing neural disorders than ever before.

There could be many other immune system weaknesses that our children develop, which we are unaware of.

Society has gone through major changes in the past century with vaccines being but one of those changes. Despite that, it’s a change that impacts children all over the world, regardless of living conditions, nutrition, race, color or creed.


References for Chapter 18: Mercury, it’s everywhere:

The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. (2018, April 24). Vaccine Ingredients – Thimerosal. Retrieved from http://www.chop.edu/centers-programs/...
Pichichero, M.E., Cernichiari, E., Lopreiato, J., and Treanor, J. (2002). Mercury concentrations and metabolism in infants receiving vaccines containing thiomersal: a descriptive study. The Lancet, 360(9347), 1737–1741.
Ibid.
Ibid.
Burbacher, T. M., Shen, D. D., Liberato, N., Grant, K. S., Cernichiari, E., & Clarkson, T. (2005). Comparison of blood and brain mercury levels in infant monkeys exposed to methylmercury or vaccines containing thimerosal. Environmental health perspectives, 113(8), 1015-1021.
Ibid.
Ibid.
Ibid.
Harry, G.J., Harris, M.W., and Burka, L.T. (2004). Mercury concentrations in brain and kidney following ethylmercury, methylmercury and Thimerosal administration to neonatal mice. Toxicol Lett, 154(3), 183-189.
Verstraeten, T., Davis, R.L., DeStefano, F., Lieu. T,A,, Rhodes. P,H,, Black. S,B.. ... Vaccine Safety Datalink Team. (2003). Safety of thimerosal-containing vaccines: a two-phased study of computerized health maintenance organization databases. Pediatrics, 112(5), 1039-1048.
Ibid.
Aposhian, H.V., Debold, V., El-Dahr, J.M.S., Herbert, M.R., Hornig, M., James, S.J., ... Walker, S. (2006, February 22). Summary of Science on Thimerosal Effects at Vaccine-Relevant Doses.[Research summary]. Retrieved from https://autismbo.startlogic.com/pdf/S...
National Center for Biotechnology Information, U.S. National Library of Medicine. (2018, December 15). Metabolism/Metabolites. Retrieved from https://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/comp...
Drugbank. (2018, December 16). General References. Retrieved from https://www.drugbank.ca/drugs/DB11590...
Carneiro, M.F., Oliveira Souza, J.M., Grotto, D., Batista, B.L., de Oliveira Souza, V.C., and Barbosa, F. Jr. (2014). A systematic study of the disposition and metabolism of mercury species in mice after exposure to low levels of thimerosal (ethylmercury). Environmental Research, 2014, 134, 218-227.
http://enhs.umn.edu/current/5103_spri...
National Center for Biotechnology Information, U.S. National Library of Medicine. (2018, December 15). Metabolism/Metabolites. Retrieved from https://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/comp...
National Center for Biotechnology Information, U.S. National Library of Medicine. (2018, December 15). Absorption, Distribution and Excretion. Retrieved from https://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/comp...
National Center for Biotechnology Information, U.S. National Library of Medicine. (2018, December 15). Biological Half-Life. Retrieved from https://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/comp...
National Center for Biotechnology Information, U.S. National Library of Medicine. (n.d.). Thimerosal. Retrieved from https://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/comp...
Ibid.
United States Department of Transportation. (2018, October 16). How to Comply with Federal Hazardous Materials Regulations. Retrieved from https://www.fmcsa.dot.gov/regulations...
Science Lab.com Chemicals & Laboratory Equipment. (2013, May 21). Material Safety Data Sheet Thimerosal MSDS. Retrieved from http://www.sciencelab.com/msds.php?ms...
Ibid.
Wikipedia. (2018, December 16). Oxidizing agent. Retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oxidizi...
Baskin, D.S., Ngo, H., and Didenko, V.V. (2003). Thimerosal induces DNA breaks, caspase-3 activation, membrane damage, and cell death in cultured human neurons and fibroblasts. Toxicol Sci, (2), 361-368.