Finally, what parents of children within the autism spectrum long have known is being  validated  by the medical establishment in the United States - mercury in immunizations causes autism.  Mark Geier fought for years to have the CDC data release what was supposedly public epidemiological data concerning the skyrocketing rates of autism in the United States.  His analysis of the data was published in the March 10, 2006, issue of American Physicians and Surgeons.  This analysis shows that since mercury was removed from childhood vaccines, the alarming increase in reported rates of autism and other neurological disorders (NDs) in children not only stopped, but actually dropped sharply – by as much as 35 percent.

Using the government’s own databases, independent researchers analyzed reports of childhood neurological disorders, including autism, before and after removal of mercury-based preservatives. Authors David A. Geier, B.A. and Mark R. Geier, M.D., Ph.D. analyzed data from the CDC’s Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS) and the California Department of Developmental Services (CDDS) in "Early Downward Trends in Neurodevelopmental Disorders Following Removal of Thimerosal-Containing Vaccines.”

The numbers from California show that reported autism rates hit a high of 800 in May 2003. If that trend had continued, the reports would have skyrocketed to more than 1000 by the beginning of 2006. But in fact, the Geiers report that the number actually went down to only 620, a real decrease of 22 percent, and a decrease from the projections of 35 percent.

This analysis directly contradicts 2004 recommendations of the Institute of Medicine which examined vaccine safety data from the National Immunization Program (NIP) of the CDC. While not willing to either rule out or to corroborate a relationship between mercury and autism, the IOM soft-pedaled its findings, and decided no more studies were needed. The authors write: "The IOM stated that the evidence favored rejection of a causal relationship between thimerosal and autism, that such a relationship was not biologically plausible, and that no further studies should be conducted to evaluate it.”

As more and more vaccines were added to the mandatory schedule of vaccines for children, the dose of the mercury-based preservative thimerosal rose, so that the cumulative dose injected into babies exceeded the toxic threshold set by many government agencies. Mercury is known to damage nerve cells in very low concentrations.

The concern about vaccines may actually be underrated, as it is generally acknowledged that the voluntary reporting of such disorders has resulted in vast underreporting of new cases. For example, the Iowa state legislature banned thimerosal from all vaccines administered there after it documented a 700-fold increase in that state alone. California followed suit, and 32 states are considering doing so.

Up until about 1989, preschool children received only 3 vaccines (polio, DPT, MMR). Then during George Bush Senior's presidency, the number of immunizations given to young children skyrocketed, fueled by the federal vaccine advisory board that was populated primarily by lobbyists for the vaccine manufacturers.  One of the vaccines added during this period was the mercury-laden Hepatitis B vaccine which was to be given within 24 hours of birth.  Heptatis B is primarily a STD (sexually transmitted disease).  The government could have instead instituted a blood test for pregnant women determine if their newborns were at risk rather than injecting all newborns with yet another vaccine.   By 1999, the CDC recommended a total of 22 vaccines to be given before children reach the 1st grade. Many of these vaccines contained mercury. In the 1990s approximately 40 million children were injected with mercury-containing vaccines.

The cumulative amount of mercury being given to children in this number of vaccines would be an amount 187 times the EPA daily exposure limit.

Between 1989 and 2003, there was an explosion of autism. The incidence of autism (and other related disorders) went from about 1 in 2,500 children to 1 in every 166. Currently there are more than a half million children in the U.S. that have autism. This disorder has devastated families leading to high divorce rates, shortened lives of parents (parents of special needs children live an average of 10 years less than other parents), and reduced standard of living to pay for expensive treatments.  

The response of the current Bush administration to this epidemic has been to deny there is an epidemic and try to hide the data from public scrutiny, while at the same time secretly putting in an addendum in to the Homeland Security Act specifically to prevent parents from suing vaccines companies for vaccine damage.  Over two years later, no one in the Bush Administration has yet come forth to take responsibility for authoring this addendum which has taken away the civil liberties of families of children with autism to seek compensation for the harm done to their children.  

The Bush administration also lobbied on behalf of special interests to defeat legislation that would have required mercury to be removed from the air-borne emissions of coal-firing power plants. About 48 tons of mercury are released into the air annually in the United States from hundreds of coal-burning plants.  A study in the journal “Health and Place” found that autism, a developmental disorder marked by communication and social interaction problems, increased in Texas counties as mercury emissions rose, said Claudia Miller, a family and community medicine professor at the University of Texas Health Science Center in San Antonio.  In areas near the coal burning plants, the rate of autism was 6 times higher than the national average.

In 1999, on the recommendation of the American Academy of Pediatrics and U.S. Public Health Service, thimerosal was removed from most childhood vaccines as a "precautionary" measure - i.e. without admitting to any causal link between thimerosal and autism.

The Geiers conclude that mercury continues to be a concern, as it is still added to some of the most commonly-used vaccines, such as those for flu:

"Despite its removal from many childhood vaccines, thimerosal is still routinely added to some formulations of influenza vaccine administered to U.S. infants, as well as to several other vaccines (e.g. tetanus-diphtheria and monovalent tetanus) administered to older children and adults. In 2004, the Institute of Medicine (IOM) of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences (NAS) retreated from the stated 1999 goal of the AAP and the PHS to remove thimerosal from U.S. vaccines as soon as possible…As a result, assessing the safety of TCVs [thimerosal-containing vaccines] is a matter of significant importance.”

The FDA allows vaccines to be labeled "mercury-free" even though they can still legally contain a certain amount of mercury, as mercury is actually part of the antiquated process of manufacturing vaccines, which has pretty much remain unchanged over 60 years.  

Also, worth noting is that these vaccines have a long shelf-life and the FDA did not issue a recall of the older vaccines containing higher levels of mercury.  This means that after 1999 children were still being immunized with unsafe levels of mercury.  Although it is less and less likely that children continue to be exposed to these older vaccines, it would be wise to check with the physician to ensure that the vaccines being administered were made after high levels of mercury were removed.  Also, flu vaccines without mercury may be requested.  Vaccines still containing mercury even if they have been labeled "mercury free", may include DPT, Hepatits B, and HIB.  For a list of vaccines, their manufacturers, levels of mercury, and other preservatives the vaccines currently contain (including aluminum, which has been implicated in Alzheimer's and formaldehyde, which is better known as embalming fluid) as provided by the FDA, please click here.

The main reason the flu vaccine is still being made with mercury is because the manufacturing plants have not been updated and it costs twice as much to make it mercury free, negatively impacting profits.