Get your news from a source that’s not owned and controlled by oligarchs. Sign up for the free _Mother Jones Daily_. Both sides of the thimerosal-autism debate have cited medical and

scientific findings that appear to support their positions and refute their opponents’. Without a definitive, independent large-scale study of American children, the battle promises to drag

on. In the meantime, critics continue to attack research on both sides for flaws such as small sample sizes, sloppy analyses, and conflicts of interest. Here are some of the recent reports

and studies commonly cited by both sides: ------------------------- “Ileal-lymphoid-nodular hyperplasia, non-specific colitis, and pervasive developmental disorder in children” A. J.

The editor of _The Lancet_ recently accused the study’s lead author of a conflict of interest due to his undisclosed work with families who believe their children were injured by vaccines.

------------------------- “Immunization Safety Review: Measles-Mumps-Rubella Vaccine and Autism” Kathleen Stratton, Alicia Gable, Padma Shetty, and Marie McCormick Institute of Medicine,

April 2001 This report found no association between the mumps-measles-rubella (MMR) vaccine and autism. The authors cautioned that if a small number of children predisposed to adverse

reactions suffered neurological damage due to the vaccine, previous studies “may not have sufficient precision” to detect them. ------------------------- “Autism: A Unique Type of Mercury

Poisoning” Sallie Bernard, Albert Enayati, Teresa Binstock, Heidi Roger, Lyn Redwood, and Woody McGinnis _Medical Hypotheses_, April, 2001 The authors of this study compared the common

characteristics of autism with those of mercury poisoning. Some children may be predisposed to develop autism after receiving vaccines containing thimerosal, they wrote. They concluded that

the mercury in thimerosal is “causing a heretofore unrecognized mercurial syndrome” in autistic children. ------------------------- “Immunization Safety Review: Thimerosal-Containing

Vaccines and Neurodevelopmental Disorders” Kathleen Stratton, Alicia Gable, and Marie C. McCormick Institute of Medicine, October 2001 This IOM report found insufficient evidence to accept

or reject a causal relationship between thimerosal-containing vaccines (TCVs) and neurological disorders, but said the “hypothesis is biologically plausible.” The authors recommended that

“full consideration be given… to removing thimerosal from vaccines administered to infants, children or pregnant women in the United States.” ------------------------- “Mercury

concentrations and metabolism in infants receiving vaccines containing thimerosal: a descriptive study” Michael Pichichero, Elsa Cernichiari, Joseph Lopreiato, and John Treanor _The Lancet_,

November 2002 This study [registration required] measured mercury levels in blood, stool, and urine samples from infants soon after being vaccinated with TCVs. Finding low concentrations of

mercury in blood, and higher concentrations in stool, it concluded that thimerosal “poses very little risk to full-term infants.” Safe Minds suggested that the authors’ connections to

vaccine manufacturers “may have resulted in a biased study design and biased interpretation of the results.” ------------------------- “Thimerosal and Autism?” Karin Nelson and Margaret

Bauman _Pediatrics_, March, 2003 In this review of existing research, the authors concluded that a thimerosal-autism link is “improbable.” ------------------------- “Toxicity of Thimerosal”

David Baskin, Hop Ngo, and Vladimir V. Didenko _Society of Toxicology_, May 2003 After immersing skin and brain cells in thimerosal, the authors found it damaged DNA and cell structures,

sometimes killing the cells. ------------------------- “Neurodevelopmental Disorders after Thimerosal-Containing Vaccines: A Brief Communication” Mark Geier and David Geier _Experimental

Biology and Medicine_, June 2003 Using data obtained from the CDC’s Vaccine Adverse Events Reporting System (VAERS) the authors compared [links to PDF] the occurrence of neurodevelopmental

disorders amongst children reporting adverse reactions who received thimerosal-containing diphtheria, tetanus, and pertussis (DTaP) vaccinations with that of those who received

thimerosal-free versions of the same vaccine. Finding a significantly higher risk for autism after receiving thimerosal-containing DTaP, they recommended that manufacturers consider removing

thimerosal from all vaccines. The American Academy of Pediatrics criticized the study for “conceptual and scientific flaws, omissions of fact, inaccuracies, and misstatements.”

------------------------- “Reduced Levels of Mercury in First Baby Haircuts of Autistic Children” Amy S. Holmes, Mark F. Blaxill, and Boyd E. Haley _International Journal of Toxicology_,

July-August 2003 Samples from the first haircuts of 94 autistic children showed lower levels of mercury than non-autistic children’s. The authors found that the autistic children’s mothers

had been exposed to higher levels of mercury through Rho D immunoglobulin and amalgam dental fillings. They suggested that exposures to mercury _in utero_ and in infancy could increase the

risk of autism. ------------------------- “Association Between Thimerosal-Containing Vaccine and Autism” Anders Hviid, Michael Stellfeld, Jan Wohlfahrt, and Mads Melbye _Journal of the

American Medical Association_, October 2003 The authors looked at autism rates before and after Denmark stopped using TCVs in 1992 (it was the first country to do so). The study of 467,000

Danish children over 31 years found no decrease in autism rates after 1992. It concluded that there is no causal relationship between thimerosal and autism. A Safe Minds response said the

study was “full of flaws and inaccuracies.” ------------------------- “Safety of thimerosal-containing vaccines: a two-phased study of computerized health maintenance organization databases”

Thomas Verstraeten, Robert L. Davis, Frank DeStefano, Tracy A. Lieu, Philip H. Rhodes, Steven B. Black, Henry Shinefield, and Robert T. Chen _Pediatrics_, November, 2003 Researchers

analyzed CDC records and found that in over 100,000 children vaccinated during the 1990s there was “[n]o consistent significant associations… between TCVs and neurodevelopmental outcomes.”

Safe Minds accused the lead researcher of altering “the data, sampling and methodology of the study so that results would point to enough inconsistencies to cast doubt that mercury in

vaccines causes autism.” ------------------------- “Activation of methionine synthase by insulin-like growth factor-1 and dopamine: a target for neurodevelopmental toxins and thimerosal” M.

Waly, H. Olteanu, R. Banerjee, S. Choi, J. B. Mason, B. S. Parker, S. Sukumar, S. Shim, A. Sharma1, J. M. Benzecry, V. Power-Charnitsky, and R. C. Deth _Molecular Psychiatry_, January 2004

The authors found that thimerosal interfered with normal brain function and development. – Rina Palta