“Excuse me, you may not have heard of me but I’m kind of a big deal.” I’m kidding of course, but that’s close to the typical attitude displayed by representatives of the large research hospitals and associations as they show up in committee to fight a common sense bill to ban mercury from childhood vaccines.

The Safe Vaccines for Tennessee’s Children Act states that no vaccine given to a child eight and under, or to a pregnant woman, may contain mercury – the second most poisonous element on the planet. Used for decades as a preservative in vaccine, it is commonly known that mercury should never be consumed, breathed, applied to the skin or injected into the human body.

Although armed with impressive credentials, their arguments against the bill are weak. They contend:

First, if the Tennessee Legislature passes this bill, parents won’t have a choice. A choice to inject their child with mercury? What parent would make that choice?

Second, if we pass this bill, parents will be afraid to vaccinate their children. I don’t know if they’ve read the morning paper but parents are already very concerned. Many choose not to vaccinate due to the uncertainty over mercury. This bill will reassure parents and provide public confidence that Tennessee vaccines ARE mercury free or trace only.

Third, if we pass this bill, we risk vaccine shortages. They make this statement even though the vaccine manufacturers are voluntarily removing the mercury compound from vaccines for children. Most vaccines are now considered mercury free or trace only.

This bill recognizes that the industry’s mercury removal is only voluntary. After passage, if the industry decides to produce vaccine with mercury they can’t send any to Tennessee. The federal government should have mandated this two decades ago. With large states like California and six others passing similar legislation this bill provides incentive to the industry to manufacture only mercury-free vaccine to sell nationally.

However, this bill is not unrealistic, if there is ever a TRUE shortage, perhaps due to a pandemic, and for some reason vaccine must be used that contains mercury, the commissioner of health can wave the restriction and parents will have informed consent. They will be told that the vaccine contains mercury, that mercury is a neurotoxin, and that children and the fetus of pregnant women are especially vulnerable to its dangers.

With this bill the legislature will assure the citizens of Tennessee that vaccines can be important to overall health, especially for the well-being of children. We support children and pregnant women being given the safest vaccines possible. And, it is our desire to reinforce the need for “safe vaccines.”

For more information on the Safe Vaccines for Tennessee's Children Act please go to www.legislature.state.tn.us. Click on legislation. Type in HB956.

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Rep. Susan Lynn wrote an opinion piece, Safe Vaccines For Tennessee's Children, that should be getting everyone's attention.

She thinks that mercury, the second deadliest element on Earth and a known neurotoxin, has no place in our children's vaccines. One has to wonder why this is even an issue. How do you argue FOR MERCURY? How many parents were even aware that something this dangerous could be used in vaccines?

The American Academy of Pediatrics has spoken out about the dangers of mercury exposure and they announced in July, 2001:

Mercury in all of its forms is toxic to the fetus and children and efforts should be made to reduce exposure to the extent possible to pregnant women and children as well as the general population."

Seven states, California, Delaware, Illinois, Iowa, Missouri, New York and Washington, have passed such bans and legislation is pending in dozens more due to the failure of the federal government to mandate that children's vaccine be mercury-free. The science is overwhelming in this issue. The research of Dr. Mady Hornig, Columbia University, Dr. Thomas Burbacher, University of Washington, Dr. Jill James, University of Arkansas, and Dr. Boyd Haley, University of Kentucky shows that thimerosal is a deadly additive with no place in medical products.

The actual history of thimerosal is shocking. This mercury-based vaccine preservative, was invented and introduced by Eli Lilly in 1930. Thimerosal, was tested only once, by Eli Lilly itself on 22 adult patients suffering from meningitis. There was no chance for follow-up to observe long-term effects, as all of the patients in this "study" died. Even if follow-up had been possible, damage to the developing brains of very young children would have remained an unknown. Eli Lilly said it was safe and the medical community accepted it. After the creation of the FDA, its use was simply continued. The federal government has never tested the type of mercury in vaccines for toxicity. This is an unconscionable oversight failure and the states need to ban thimerosal to protect America's children.

Anne McElroy Dachel
Chippewa Falls, WI
amdachel@msn.com

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Thank you for Rep. Lynn’s editorial, Safe Vaccines for Tennessee’s Children. As a chemical engineer with a background in FDA regulations, I’m well verse in the science of this issue, but increasingly aware of the politics. I’m also the parent of a parent of a child whose neurological impairment is connected to mercury in prenatal and childhood vaccines. He was born in 2001, 2 years after the 1999 AAP “recommendation” to remove thimerosal from childhood vaccines. I believe that the science was available then for thimerosal legislation and I believe that even more science is available now for thimerosal legislation. It’s been, 7 years since the 1999 recommendation and there are health authorities fighting to keep thimerosal in vaccines. Releases of new studies and evidence continue to support the link between the use mercury in vaccines and the epidemic of neurodevelopmental disorders in children.

The representatives of the large research hospitals and associations who fight to keep mercury in vaccines use weak and distortive arguments. Since the 2004-2005 season, there has been no increase in the amount of pediatric thimerosal-free flu vaccine used, even though the manufacturer can double production. In 2003, childhood vaccines were at trace mercury levels and totaled 3.2 micrograms up to age 5. Now with the flu vaccine recommended for children age 6 months to 5 years, this level has risen up to 103.2 micrograms. In 2004, the flu vaccine was recommended for healthy pregnant women anytime during pregnancy, without a recommendation for the mercury free version. It will take legislation to change the status quo keeping mercury in vaccines.

Heather O’Brien
St. Paul, Minn.
heatherob@comcast.net