The mercury, autism debacle: How stupid do they think we are?

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Wed May 9, 2007 1:35 pm (PST)The mercury, autism debacle: How stupid do they think we are?Michael Wagnitzhttp://www.americanchronicle.com/articles/viewArticle.asp?articleID=26477(Courtesy : Sheri Nakken) Michael WagnitzMay 7, 2007Last weekend the Sixth International Meeting for Autism Research took placein Seattle. The meeting claimed to draw the top 900 autism researchers andscientists from around the world. One of the key participants was Dr. EricFombonne of Montreal Children's Hospital at McGill University. Dr. Fombonne,a psychiatrist, presented his research on mercury. His work involved testingthe blood and hair of 147 children. Roughly half of his subjects werediagnosed with autism and half were considered

neurologically typicalcontrols. He found no difference in mercury levels in the patients hair orblood.The first question one might ask is why a psychiatrist is consideredqualified to do toxicological work. Most parents are concerned about themercury exposure that their children received as newborns and infants frommandatory vaccines. The vaccine schedule in Canada, where Dr. Fombonnesstudy was done, and the United States were quite different in the 1990's.Dr. Fombonne,s patients were not tested after vaccination. If he had talkedto any reputable toxicologist, they would have told him that theethylmercury from vaccines clears the blood in about seven days.Ethylmercury, a short-chain alkyl mercury compound, is rapidly distributedto the brain, kidneys and other tissue. The hair tested would need to befrom a first haircut to show this mercury exposure. Even if this was thecase, research has shown that autistic kids do

not excrete mercuryefficiently. The hair would not contain any measurable amounts of mercury.It's to bad that McGill University does not have any toxicologists who couldhave explained to Dr. Fombonne that his work was a waste of time and money.If one was really interested in determining the body burden of mercury theywould perform the urinary porphyrin profile analysis (UPPA). Porphyrins areprecursors to heme, the oxygen carrying component of blood. Mercury inhibitsthe conversion of specific porphyrins to heme. This test is backed bydecades of published research. Recently it was shown in two published,peer-reviewed studies, that mercury inhibited porphyrins were significantlyhigher in autistic patients when compared to age matched controls (1)(2).The other way to test for mercury in the body is by using a provoking agentand measuring mercury in the urine.The organizers of this meeting did not reveal that when Dr.

Fombonne isn'tconducting epidemiological studies or doing heavy metal analysis, he isappearing on behalf of vaccine manufacturers defending the safety ofmercury. Dr. Fombonne refers to the amount of mercury in vaccines as"trace". Again, if he were a toxicologist or chemist, he would realize thatthe concentration of mercury in a multi-dose vaccine vial is 250 timeshigher than what the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)classifies as hazardous waste.References:(1) Nataf R, Lam A, Lathe R, Skorupka, C. 2006. Porphyrinurea in ChildhoodAutistic Disorders: Implications for Environmental Toxicity. Toxicol. Appl.Pramacol. 214(2):99-108(2) Geier M, Geier D, 2006. A prospective assessment of porphyrins inautistic disorders: a potential marker for heavy metal exposure. NeurotoxRes. Aug;10(1):57-64About the Author: Michael Wagnitz has over 20 years experience

evaluatingmaterials for toxic metals. He currently works as a chemist in thetoxicology section of a public health lab evaluating biological samples forlead and mercury.US: 1 in 150 children has AutismUS: 1 in 6 children suffers a developmental disorderNew Jersey: 1 in 94 has Autism UK: 1 in 86 has Autism China : Over 20 lakh autistic children, India : No authentic figures, expected one crore+ (1 in 250) AUTISM IS NOTHING BUT MERCURY POISONING. THERE IS MERCURY IN

VACCINES!!

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