Petition to abolish Thimerosal refers to studies that link it to ASD.

[Guest guest]

http://www.dailysouthtown.com/southtown/columns/guests/x09-guc3.htmShots worse than mercury emissionsWednesday, August 9, 2006We read your July 27 guest column entitled "State must adopt strongmercury controls to protect kids, moms" by Dr. Ed Pont and JamesNelson. We would normally applaud the acknowledgment of a majorenvironmental health risk in Illinois, but the authors' priorfailings to protect Illinois citizens from another form of mercurywere not as admirable. While environmental mercury exposure can be easily sidestepped bydietary restraint, mercury-laced flu vaccines are much moredifficult to avoid in Illinois. Pont and Nelson represent theIllinois Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics and IllinoisDepartment of Public Health, respectively, the very

organizationsthat have taken decisive steps to assure Illinois citizens —particularly children, pregnant women and the unborn fetus — willcontinue to be exposed to another toxic form of mercury contained inmost flu vaccines: thimerosal — an ethylmercury containing compound. The IDPH, at the urging of the ICAAP, filed an exemption from theIllinois Mercury-free Vaccine Act on Jan. 1, 2006, an act that wouldhave assured no one in Illinois received toxic doses of mercury bydirect injection. The exemption was filed under the erroneouspretense that there were not enough mercury-free flu vaccinesavailable. In fact, public health departments inCalifornia and New Mexico were able to order tens of thousands offlu vaccines for their citizens, yet Illinois agencies failed toeven inform vaccine providers of the new law signed by Gov. RodBlagojevich on Aug. 29, 2005. Both ethyl- and methylmercury

are organic forms of mercury, the mosttoxic class of mercury. The methyl form of mercury found in fishfrom environmental sources such as coal burning is a much safer formof mercury. It is already bound to fish proteins when ingested andtherefore is not readily absorbed. In contrast, the chemical form ofmercury found in vaccines is injected directly into the body,bypassing the defense mechanisms of the gastrointestinal tract. Even the manufacturers of thimerosal are aware of its toxic potential:"Exposure in utero and in children can cause mild to severe mentalretardation and mild to severe motor coordination impairment,"according to Eli Lilly's Manufacturer Safety Data Sheet. Current scientific studies published in peer-review have stronglylinked the vaccine mercury, thimerosal, to autism and otherdevelopmental disorders. The only studies which

ever attempted to measure mercury content inchildren with autism showed statistically significant greater levelsof mercury than in neurotypical children. The biochemical aberrations in autistic children are identical tothose produced experimentally in the lab when cell cultures areexposed to thimerosal. Glutathione, a protein required to remove mercury, is depleted inmany autistic children.The enzyme that is critical in the neurochemical pathway ofattention is also depleted when exposed to mercury, thus providing abiochemical basis of attention disorders. There are nine published epidemiology papers looking at threedifferent U.S. databases, demonstrating a dose-dependent associationbetween vaccine mercury and a variety of neurodevelopmentaldisorders, including autism and ADHD. A congressional committee concluded in 2003 that vaccine mercury wasthe likely cause of the

autism epidemic in America.Thimerosal, injected into mice at equivalent doses of that givenAmerican children before 2003, resulted in behavioral andpathological brain changes similar to autistic children. Most importantly, recent research on juvenile primates proved thatthe safer mercury found in vaccines does accumulate in brain tissueat levels over twice as high compared with methymercury proving itspotential for neurotoxicity. Pont and Nelson ignore the fact that receiving a single flu shotwill result in an exposure to mercury 11 to 16 times greater thanwhat the EPA considers safe and for the fetus, several times abovethat level. Is it any coincidence that since the late 1980s when the CDCexpanded the childhood vaccine schedule, autism rates in Illinoishave increased by over 1,500 percent? Currently, 1 in 166 childrensuffer from a form of autism, and 1 in 6 from a learning

disability. It is time to stop blaming coal-burning plants when the blame shouldsquarely lie on the shoulders of those who are in charge of publichealth oversight. A recent international organization assessedinfant mortality rates among industrialized nations. By no surprisethe United States ranked 32nd out of 33 participating nations. It is time for parents, researchers, legislators and physicians to demandthat mercury be removed from all healthcare products. Organizationssuch as the ICAAP and IDPH should be held responsible for such anoversight failure. The fishy story being spun here has little to dowith the fish-eating citizens of Illinois but by agencies with closeties to pharmaceutical industry influence. Stop injecting childrenwith mercury and stop this hypocrisy. David Ayoub, M.D.SpringfieldMedical directorPrairie CollaborativeKaren E.

McDonoughArlington HeightsIllinois State coordinatorAdvocates for Childrens HealthAffected by Mercury PoisoningErik NanstielHoffman EstatesFounderFoundation for Autism andInformation ResearchTeresa ConrickElmwood ParkBoard memberAdvocates for Children's HealthImpaired by Mercury Poisoning "Our ideal is not the spirituality that withdraws from life but the conquest of life by the power of the spirit." - Aurobindo.

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