The Myth of Vaccine Safety and Effectiveness

Dees Illustration

Brandon Turbeville

Activist Post

In an article published on September 28, 2011 by Activist Post, Eileen Dannemann of Vaccine Liberation Army rips a hole in the long-standing claim by the vaccine and medical establishment that the mercury in vaccines is safe due to the specific compound being used.

At the forefront of the debate is the use of Thimerosal , a mercury-based preservative used in many different vaccines, particularly in flu shots. Thimerosal is made up of 49.6% mercury which is a known neurotoxin. In fact, the EPA has declared the toxicity limit of mercury to be as small an amount as .1 mcg. However, the annual flu shot contains as much as 25 mcg by virtue of the Thimerosal preservative. This is 250 times higher than the limit of toxicity set by the EPA. 

There is no logical ability to deny the fact that mercury is harmful to brain function and development, particularly on those who are developing. However, for some time, vaccine developers have argued that the specific compound of mercury (ethylmercury) being used in vaccines is much safer than the more well-known form of mercury (methylmercury) whose dangers are both documented and admitted by everyone.

Claims that ethylmercury and methylmercury are different, of course, are true.  Ethylmercury is an inorganic compound of mercury, while methylmercury is the organic compound. Contrary to what is usually the case, it is true that the organic form of mercury is initially the most dangerous at first contact. However, to imply that these compounds are so different so as negate the dangers of ethylmercury used in vaccines is both inaccurate and misleading. 

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In fact, the compounds are quite similar. For years during the 1970s both forms of the mercury compound were used as a fungicide until they were banned due to adverse health effects. So, obviously, these compounds are not so very different. 

However, vaccinators continue to harp on the claim that the ethylmercury compound is much safer than that of the methylmercury compound, even when injected directly into the human body. Yet, although this claim has been repeated ad nauseam, the science says something different. 

Indeed, the science actually demonstrates the opposite of the pro-vaccine claims, as ethylmercury actually metabolizes as methylmercury within the human body, leaving the individual with the toxic form of mercury that even vaccinators admit to be dangerous.

As Eileen Danneman writes in her article, “Establishment Safety Debate: Thimerosal in Vaccines vs. Admittedly Dangerous Methylmercury,” upon reviewing two key published studies on mercury metabolism (one  in rats and one in human infants), Dr. Paul King has come to the conclusion that, “during the metabolic process in the human and animal bodies the supposedly ‘harmless’ ethylmercury compound, Thimerosal, is metabolized (converted) into the toxic and ‘harmful’ methylmercury. And then in turn, the harmful methylmercury is metabolized (converted) into the most harmful, long-term-toxic, ‘inorganic’ mercury that is retained in bodily tissue.” 

In the rat study to which this article refers,[1] there were three different groups of test subjects. First, a test control group treated with a water placebo. Second, a group treated with Thimerosal and, third, a group treated with methylmercury. 

As expected in the placebo group, when the test rats were killed, there were no reported levels of mercury in their blood and organs. Also as expected, the rats treated with methylmercury contained levels of methylmercury and “inorganic” mercury in their blood and organs. However, unexpectedly (to the reseachers at least), was the fact that the rats treated with the much-touted “harmless” ethylmercury, had not only ethylmercury in their blood and organs, but also methylmercury and “inorganic” mercury. Indeed, these rats actually had higher levels of “inorganic” mercury in their brains than did the rats treated with the methylmercury outright. (It should be noted that the residual levels of “inorganic” mercury being referred to here are those that are the final, long-term, residual forms of “inorganic” mercury after the metabolic process.)

As Danneman writes: 

This observation begs an answer to the question: Where did the ‘methylmercury’ come from since this group was only originally and solely treated with Thimerosal (an ‘ethylmercury’ compound)?

Based on the published findings in the three groups of rats, the metabolic pathway for organic mercury involves the conversion of Ethylmercury (Thimerosal) into ‘methylmercury’ and then the further reduction of ‘methylmercury’ into inorganic mercury.

However, it should be noted that the two studies addressed by Dr. King and Eileen Danneman are not the only studies that demonstrate the metabolization of ethylmercury into methylmercury within the human body. As I wrote in my article “Mercury in Vaccines: No More Dangerous Than A Tuna Sandwich,” in March 2010, a published study entitled “Comparison of Blood and Brain Mercury Levels In Infant Monkeys Exposed to Methylmercury or Vaccines Containing Thimerosal,”[2] demonstrated this very process. 

This study involved the treating of monkeys with the injected forms of ethylmercury and methylmercury. At the end of the experiment, it was found that the monkeys injected with the ethylmercury also contained methylmercury in their brains. Indeed, it was found that the ethylmercury treated monkeys had significantly higher levels (from 10% to 71%) of methylmercury in their brains than even those monkeys who were treated with the pure methylmercury. 

The conclusion of the study was that ethylmercury, while seemingly less dangerous than methylmercury, actually metabolizes as methylmercury. Also, it is possible that injection of ethylmercury actually increases the amount of methylmercury that lodges itself in the brain.

This evidence refutes the claim that ethylmercury is harmless as it is expelled by the body before it can do any damage and why the levels of ethylmercury are not easily detected. In reality, the ethylmercury is not being expelled at all. It is merely changing forms. Thus, levels of ethylmercury cannot be accurately detected after it has metabolized as methylmercury.

The study even went further by mentioning a connection between the reaction of the brains in the study and those of autistic patients. It stated,  

Stereologic and autometallographic studies on the brains of these adult monkeys indicated that the persistence of inorganic Hg in the brain was associated with a significant increase in the number of microglia in the brain, whereas the number of astrocytes declined……It is important to note that ‘an active neuroinflammatory process’ has been demonstrated in brains of autistic patients, including a marked activation of microglia.

Although the authors of the study are not suggesting that vaccines cause autism, the study itself presents clear correlative evidence that they do. There is obviously a relationship between inorganic mercury in the brain and autism and this has been demonstrated time and time again. Taken with the fact that ethylmercury metabolizes as methylmercury, one can easily deduce the connection between vaccines and autism. Indeed, this connection is not as difficult to make as vaccine pushers would make it out to be.

As awareness to the dangers of vaccines increases amongst the general public, more and more scientific evidence of this sort will gradually come to light. As usual, those who were ridiculed as irresponsible “conspiracy theorists” in the beginning will eventually proven justified in their decisions to refuse vaccination, much as they are in others areas of life. 

Vaccine makers, pharmaceutical companies, and even government regulatory and safety agencies will attempt to avoid any real scientific studies as to the safety of vaccines and their ingredients in the meantime. This is because, once true science is applied to the sacred cow of the medical establishment known as vaccines, the entire industry will come crumbling down. Vaccines simply cannot stand up to true scientific standards.

If and when the myth of vaccine safety and effectiveness is finally destroyed, there will no doubt be some very angry individuals asking serious questions. Particularly, there will be many parents of autistic children, whose only crime was in trusting the medical establishment and the mainstream media, who will be demanding answers. 

In the meantime, we must continue to spread the truth about vaccines and their inherent dangers to every corner of the globe. Too many have been harmed already. Let’s not let those numbers grow any larger.

Please take part in Vaccine Information Week by sharing this article, as well as the many other KEY ARTICLES demonstrating the dangers of vaccines.  

[2] Burbacher, Thomas M.; Shen, Danny D.; Liberato, Noelle.; Grant, Kimberly S.; Cernichairi, Elsa.; “Comparison of Blood and Brain Mercury Levels in Infant Monkeys Expose to Methylmercury or Vaccines Containing Thimerosal.” Environmental Health Perspectives, Vol. 113, Number 8, August 2005.