Possible Mercury, Autism Connection Found in Study (Merke vaccines?)

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=2026&ncid=716&e=29&u=/latimests/20050317/ts_latimes/possiblemercuryautismconnectionfoundinstudy

Possible Mercury, Autism Connection Found in Study

By Thomas H. Maugh II Times Staff Writer

Texas researchers have found a possible link between autism and mercury in the air and water.

Studying individual school districts in Texas, the epidemiologists found that those districts with the highest levels of mercury in the environment also had the highest rates of special education students and autism diagnoses.


The study does not prove that mercury causes autism, cautioned the lead author, Raymond F. Palmer of the University of Texas Health Science Center in San Antonio, but it provides a "provocative" clue that should be further investigated. <snip>

California has the highest environmental burden of mercury of any state in the country, and it also has what appears to be the highest rate of autism as well — although some critics attribute this perceived high rate to enhanced surveillance associated with the state's special education program.

Autism is a severe developmental disorder in which children seem isolated from the world around them. There is a broad spectrum of symptoms, but the disorder is marked by poor language skills and an inability to handle social relations. <snip>

<snoip>
The purported link between autism and mercury has been a subject of intense debate. In the past it has centered primarily on the mercury-containing preservative thimerosal, which was once widely used in vaccines.
<snip>

The amount of thimerosol in vaccines is infinitesimal. It appeared in vaccines DECADES before the spike in autism cases. The numbers just don't compute. I guess you're gonna have to get those kids stabbed so they'll be protected from potentially fatal diseases. Gee whiz.

What the study did say is that ENVIRONMENTAL mercury may be to blame, mostly from coal fired power plants and other industrial plants, but also from agricultural chemicals and industrial dumping.

I'm not entirely convinced that mercury alone is to blame, since in the pre oil economy as much or more coal was being burned, keeping every household warm. I have a sneaking suspicion that several of the things that industry is slowly poisoning us with are to blame.

All because Imus in the Morning is chasing Merke because of this.

I do like talk show advice!

and one of the things an epidemiologist would discern is the difference between coincidence and causality.

I don't give a rip what the anecdotes say. The fact is that the spike in autism cases happened DECADES after thimerosol appeared as a preservative in childhood vaccines. The numbers simply do not add up. The condition remains epidemic even AFTER the thimerosol was REMOVED from all but the flu vaccine, so those numbers aint working, either.

If you want to believe that thimerosol causes autism, if you want to believe in Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny, go ahead.

However, the people who really know what they're talking about are out there searching for the real cause, and right now, it's environmental mercury from coal fired power plants that seems most suspect.

I still think it'll turn out to be a combination of environmental poisons, but that's just a guess.

I think there has been more of a rise of mercury in vaccines and other things.

I'm sure environmental/fish have their role as well.

The vaccine schedule changed dramatically in the late 80's & early 90's. There was a 146% increase in thimerosal which coincides with the dramatic rise in autism.

The amount of mercury in these vaccines was not small. The EPA safety limit is .1 mcg per kilogram of body weight per day. The vaccines given to tiny babies at birth contained 12.5 mcg of mercury and 62.5 mcg of mercury at 2 months. This is actually a very large exposure to mercury.

Check out www.generationrescue.org for more information and David Kirby's book, Evidence of Harm.

the most logical source of the environmental mercury ? Or, quicksilver mines from the Gold Rush days leaching into water supplies/groundwater ?

The article 'Heavy Mettle'
http://www.metroactive.com/papers/sonoma/04.27.00/mercury-0017.html
points out

"Used during the gold rush, and once considered a strategically important material by the U.S. military, mercury mines dotted the hills all over Northern California. The bottom dropped out of the mercury market in the 1970s, and the mines have long been abandoned. But mercury is not a thing of the past: the Central Valley pumps about 460 pounds of the material a year into San Francisco Bay, and Bay Area industry is allowed to discharge another 70 pounds a year. Because of mercury, along with dioxins, pesticides, and PCBs, fish from San Francisco Bay is off limits for pregnant women and children."

China's burgeoning economic machine is heavily dependent upon coal-fired power plants, of which mercury released would make it across and into the Pacific Ocean in water and air currents. Is CA the only state experiencing autism rate increases ? Are the prevailing currents states having the same rise in autism rates ?

Govt. scientists and CDC need to be investigating.

:-)