To the Editor:

During a recent visit to a local diner the conversation turned to the latest proposed cause of autism - Tylenol. Who knew? I’m more of an ibuprofen guy myself so I guess I’m safe.

Our waitress briefly joined our conversation with a personal anecdote concerning a granddaughter who had an apparent reaction from a recent vaccination. Mercury in the vaccine, in her view, was the source of the reaction. She is not alone in her concern. Due to studies indicating a link between mercury exposure and autism, fear of vaccines is growing.

Fear of the vaccine is misplaced. A compound containing mercury, thiomersal, was removed from childhood vaccines way back in 2001.  It’s unlikely to have caused a reaction in her, or anybody else’s, grandkids for the last 20 years. Thiomersal was removed not because there was any actual evidence of a problem but just because people were worried. Fair enough. Better safe than sorry. 

Thiomersal was once used as a preservative in many vaccines. Today it is present only in some multidose flu vaccines that are more likely administered to adults. So, unless you’re concerned with someone developing autism in their 60s, thiomersal is probably not the best focus of one’s concern. Dying from the flu, which killed 28,000 people in the US in 2024, is worth some attention.

Ironically the prevalence of autism has increased since mercury was removed from vaccines. Was mercury suppressing autism? Probably not. But such a correlation ought to dispel vaccine related fear. Yet somehow it does not.

I suspect, or hope, most folks get that mercury should generally not be taken internally. A sentiment with which I whole heartily agree. Mercury is known to be toxic. Exposure can lead to a bunch of nasty symptoms best avoided. Brain damage is but one of them.

So how are we exposed to mercury? Lots of ways. Wood smoke, exhaust from combustion engines (cars, lawnmowers, etc), coal fired power plants and cigarette smoke are all excellent delivery systems for a whole host of toxic chemicals including mercury. Where there’s exhaust, there’s often mercury. If you really want to reduce exposure to mercury, you’ll have to get rid of exhaust pipes. Which is quite doable of course. Or you can hold your breath. Whichever seems easier. Remember, even if it’s hot outside, the mercury is still falling.

Scott Shipley

Hermon