claim: “Autism is nothing more than mercury toxicity“; vaccine ingredients are toxic
evidence: Even as Dr. Wakefield's reported findings were being evaluated and repudiated, another stream of concern entered the public consciousness. The vaccine given to children whom Wakefield studied did not contain mercury, but some vaccines in the United States were preserved with a mercury-containing compound called thimerosal. An emerging public health concern about effects of mercury exposure coincided with Dr. Wakefield's publication. Because certain forms of mercury are toxic to humans in sufficient quantity, some parents and clinicians feared that thimerosal might be a cause of autism. Although this association has been refuted by scientific evidence, many people continue to believe that the two are related. [...] - Baker JP. Mercury, vaccines, and autism: one controversy, three histories. Am J Pub Health 2008;98(2):2-11. [...] - Stehr-Green, P., Tull, P., Stellfeld, M., Mortenson, P., Simpson, D. Autism and thimerosal-containing vaccines: lack of consistent evidence for an association. Am J Prev Med 2003;25:101–106.