Letter to the author of Doctors Mixed on Flu Shots (requires subscription) from Mike Wagnitz, Senior Chemist in the toxicology department at the University of Wisconsin, Madison:

Hi Jackie,

Nice article entitled "Doctors Mixed on Flu Shots". Here are some myths and facts you could have used prior to writing this article. Feel free to use them anytime.

Myth #1 Thimerosal, when used in vaccines, is added in trace amounts.

Truth: Thimerosal is added at a concentration of 1:10000. This is equivalent to a concentration of 100,000 parts per billion (ppb). Since thimerosal is half mercury, this puts the concentration of mercury in a vaccine vial at 50,000 ppb. Liquid waste that exceeds 200 ppb must be disposed of in a special hazardous waste landfill. Drinking water cannot exceed 2 ppb mercury. Trace would probably be the last word to use when describing the amount of mercury in vaccines.

Myth #2 Thimerosal is no longer present in vaccines.  It was removed in 1999.

Truth: There is documented evidence that childhood vaccines contained the full amount of thimerosal well into 2003. This
information is documented in the Physician Desk reference which lists all the ingredients of drugs used in the U.S. for each year. For a current list of vaccines which contain thimerosal please go to http://www.vaccinesafety.edu/thi-table.htm.

Myth #3 Ethylmercury, the type of mercury found in vaccines is less toxic than methylmercury.

Truth: In a paper published in 2005, it was shown that baby primates, exposed to injected ethylmercury, retain twice as much
inorganic mercury in their brains than primates exposed to equal amounts of ingested methylmercury. Once organic mercury is converted to inorganic mercury in cells, it becomes trapped and degradation of brain cells accelerate.

Myth #4 There are vast volumes of data which show thimerosal is safe.

Truth: Again, this statement is the exact opposite of the truth. The only studies which suggest it is safe to inject humans with
thimerosal are epidemiological studies done by the producers, distributors and administrators of vaccines. The vast majority of
this propaganda is published in Pediatrics which is owned by the American Academy of Pediatrics. These epidemiological studies are the same type of studies used by the tobacco industry to show that smoking did not cause lung cancer. If one wants to find the truth about thimerosal they should start by reading the Material Safety Data Sheet. You can then go to the medical search engine "Pubmed" and type in thimerosal. You will get references to 1087 published papers. Except for the papers published in pediatrics, all the other papers focus on the extreme toxicity of thimerosal.


Michael F. Wagnitz
Senior Chemist