New Insights into the Underlying Biochemistry of

Autism: The Mercury-Vaccine Connection

Mark R. Geier, MD, PhD, FABMG, FACE

Founder & Medical Director
ASD Centers, LLC
website: www.asdcenters.com
Phone: (301)989-0548
Email: mgeier@comcast.net

David A. Geier
Executive Director
ASD Centers, LLC

Copyright 2009
 1 out of 6 children are diagnosed with a
developmental disorder and/or behavioral disorder

1 in 166 children are diagnosed with an autism

spectrum disorder
 Mercury Exposure

Background Information
Thimerosal & Vaccines:
 Thimerosal is an organic mercury compound
(50% mercury be weight) that is metabolized to
ethylmercury and thiosalicylate and has been
present since the 1930s as a preservative in
some vaccines and pharmaceutical products to
prevent bacterial and fungal contamination.

 The FDA in 1999, under the recommended

childhood immunization schedule, determined
infants might be exposed to cumulative doses of
ethylmercury that exceed some federal safety
guidelines established for exposure to
methylmercury, another form of organic
mercury.
 National Toxicology Program (NTP)
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services,
National Institutes of Health's
National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS)

Statement on Thimerosal

* They state that among the synonyms of thimerosal is

merthiolate.

* They report in their toxicity evaluation of thimerosal,

“Poison by ingestion, subcutaneous, intravenous and possibly
other routes. An experimental neoplastigen and teratogen.
Experimental reproductive effects.”

* They report that among the symptoms of thimerosal

exposure include mental retardation in children, loss of
coordination in speech, writing, and gait, stupor, and
irritability and bad temper progressing to mania.
 Study Supported by NIH, US
Public Health Service, and FDA
1977
 The Dose, Makes the Poison:
Late 1980s to Early 2000s:
• Rh-negative mothers were routinely administered Thimerosal
containing Rho(D)-immune globulins at 28 weeks gestation (10.5 to
in some instances more than 40 µg mercury per dose).
• Infants may have been exposed a total of 237.5 µg mercury during
the first 18-24 months of life, if all Thimerosal-containing vaccines
were administered.

Early 2000s – Present:

• All pregnant women to receive flu vaccine anytime during
pregnancy (25 µg mercury / dose).
• Infants to receive 3 flu vaccines during first 18-24 months of life
(12.5 µg mercury / dose) = 37.5 µg mercury.
• Children from 3 years-old through 18 years-old are to receive
yearly flu vaccines (25 µg mercury / dose) = 375 µg mercury.
 Thimerosal (Mercury) Doses** Infants Received:
Source: Bigham M, Copes R. “Thiomersal in vaccines: balancing the risk of adverse effects with the
risk of vaccine-preventable disease,” Drug Saf, 2005;28:89-101.

__________________________

** Assuming an infant receiving 187.5 μg of mercury from Thimerosal-

containing vaccines during the first 6 months of life from the routine
childhood vaccination schedule, in combination with environmental
exposure from mercury in breast milk (164 μg of mercury).
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 The Journal of Laboratory & Clinical Medicine 1932

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 Heyworth MF, Truelove SC. Problems associated
with the use of merthiolate as a preservative in anti-
lymphocytic globulin. Toxicology 1979;12:325-333.
“For many years, merthiolate has been known to have anti-
microbial activity. When it was first introduced as an anti-microbial
preservative, little information about the fundamental biological
effects of organic mercury compounds was available. We would like
to suggest that merthiolate should now be regarded as an
inappropriate preservative for anti-lymphocytic globulin
preparations and other materials which are indented for
administration to human subjects.”
Kravchenko AT, Dzagurov SG, Chervonskaia GP. Evaluation
of the toxic action of prophylactic and therapeutic
preparations on cells cultures. Communication III. Revealing
the toxic properties of medical biological preparations from
the degree of cell damage in continuous cell line L132. Zh
Mikrobiol Epidemiol Immunobiol 1983;3:87-92.

“Thus thimerosal, commonly used as a preservative, has been found

not only to render its primary toxic effect, but also capable of
changing the properties of cells. This fact suggests that the use of
thimerosal for the preservation of medical biological preparations,
especially those intended for children, is inadmissible.”
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 Seal D, Ficker L, Wright P, et al. The case
against thimerosal. Lancet 1991;338:315-316.

“Thimerosal is a weak antibacterial agent that is rapidly broken

down to products, including ethylmercury residues, which are
neurotoxic. Its role as a preservative in vaccines has been
questioned, and the pharmaceutical industry itself considers its use
as historical.”
1
• “Therefore, to examine the autism as mercury poisoning hypothesis,
this paper reviews the existing scientific literature within the context
of established epidemiological criteria and finds that the evidence for
a causal relationship is compelling.”

• “Analogous to epidemiological evidence of the smoking–lung cancer

relationship, a mercury–autism relationship is confirmed.”

• “Therefore, given the severity, devastating lifelong impact and

extremely high prevalence of autism, it would be negligent to
continue to expose pregnant and nursing mothers and infant children
to any amount of avoidable mercury.”
Increased Mercury
Exposure in
Autistic Disorders
The Centers For Disease Control & Prevention
(CDC)

Vaccine Safety Datalink (VSD)

Thimerosal Dose-Response Studies

CDC Internal VSD-Thimerosal Studies
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 Simpsonwood Meeting (7-8 June
2000) in Norcross, GA where the
findings of the Vaccine Safety
Datalink (VSD) analysis showing a link
between Thimerosal-containing
vaccines and neurodevelopmental
outcomes were discussed in a closed
meeting by employees from the CDC,
FDA, & the vaccine manufacturers.
Dr. Brenier: Page 113: “We have asked you to keep this
information confidential…”

Dr. Johnston: Page 198: “Forgive this personal

comment, but I got called out a eight o’clock emergency
call and my daughter-in-law delivered a son by C-
Section. Our first male in the line of the next
generation, and I do not want that grandson to get a
thimerosal containing vaccine”

Dr. Weil: Page 207: “The number of dose related

relationships are linear and statistically significant. You
can play with this all you want. They are linear. They are
statistically significant. The positive relationships are
those that one might expect from the Faeroe Islands
studies. They are also related to those data we do have
on experimental animal data and similar to the
neurodevelopmental tox data on other substances, so
that I think you can’t accept that this is out of the
ordinary. It isn’t out of the ordinary. ”

Dr. Brent: Page 229: “…we are in a bad position from

the standpoint of defending lawsuits if they were
want to risk offending everyone in the room by saying
that perhaps this study should not have been done at
all, because the outcome of it could have to some
extent, been predicted, and we have all reached this
point now where we are left hanging…”
“…But nonetheless, we know from many experiences
in history that the pure scientist has done research
because of pure science. But that pure science has
resulted in splitting the atom or some other process
which is completely beyond the power of the
scientists who did the research to control it. And what
we have here is people who have, for every best
reason in the world, pursued a direction of research.
But there is now the point at which the research
results have to be handled, and even if this committee
decides that there is no association and that
information gets out, the work that has been done
and through the freedom of information that will be
taken by others and will be used in ways beyond the
control of this group. An I am very concerned about
that as I suspect it is already too late to do anything
regardless of any professional body and what they
say. My mandate as I sit here in this group is to make
“I feel we should use sound scientific
argumentation and not let our
standards be dictated by our desire to
disprove an unpleasant theory.”
_________________________
 Increased Mercury
Body-Burden in
Autistic Disorders:

A Clinical Perspective
 Conclusions:
** There was a significant increase in the brain concentration of the
Hg / Se ratio in autistics vs controls.

** There was a significant increased in brain oxidative stress markers

in autistics vs controls.

** There was a significant correlation between brain mercury

concentrations and oxidative stress markers in autistics vs controls.
• Examined the urinary porphyrin profiles of Australian children with
autism spectrum disorders (ASDs).

• A consistent trend in abnormal porphyrin levels was evidenced when

data was compared with those previously reported in the literature.

• Three independent studies from three continents have now

demonstrated that significantly increased urinary porphyrins are
associated with ASDs, and that mercury may be likely to produce the
porphyrin profiles observed.
Low Glutathione in
Autistic Disorders
 ** Mercury Excretion is Directly Related to Glutathione Secretion

Source: Clarkson TW, Nordberg GF, Sager PR. Reproductive and developmental toxicity of metals. Scan J Work Environ
Health 1985;11:145-54.
 Biochemical Markers in Autistics:
Sourece: James SJ, et al. Metabolic biomarkers of increased oxidative stress and impaired
methylation capacity in children with autism. Am J Clin Nutr. 2004 Dec;80(6):1611-7.

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Visual Evidence of Thimerosal

Induced

Human Neuron Damage

 ↑ ↑

Human Neuroblastoma Cells

Human Neuroblastoma Cells
24 Hrs Incubation
24 Hrs Incubation
100 nM Thimerosal
No Thimerosal
[20 ppb Mercury]
Mercury & Testosterone

Toxicity
• “Our results demonstrate that a significant difference in the [maximum
tolerated dose] MTD of Thimerosal depending upon whether the test
animal is male or female is, thus, an important finding.”

• “Thus, Thimerosal has a 3-fold increased toxicity in males compared to

females.“

• “As autism occurs much more frequently in males than in females, our
findings may relate to a potential selectivity of Thimerosal for toxic
effects in some male children...”
Animal Model of Thimerosal Induced Autism:
Hornig M, Chian D, Lipkin WI. Neurotoxic Effects of Postnatal
Thimerosal are Mouse Strain Dependent. Mol Psychiatry
2004;9:833-45.
Jerome L and Dawn Greene Infectious Disease Laboratory, Department of Epidemiology,
Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA

The researchers administered thimerosal to mice mimicking the United

States’ routine childhood immunization schedule (i.e. dose and timing,
adjusted). The researchers demonstrated a genetically-susceptible
mouse strain developed physical, psychological, and pathological
symptoms similar to autism, including: growth delay, reduced
locomotion, exaggerated response to novelty, increased brain size,
decreased numbers of Purkinje cells, significant abnormalities in brain
architecture, affecting areas sub-serving emotion and cognition, and
densely packed hyperchromic hippocampal neurons with altered
glutamate receptors and transporters.
 Mercury in Medicine
–
Taking Unnecessary Risks

A report prepared by the staff of the Subcommittee

on Human Rights and Wellness,
Committee on Government Reform

Unites States House of Representatives

Chairman Dan Burton

May 2003
“However, the Committee upon a thorough review of
the scientific literature and internal documents from
government and industry did find evidence that
thimerosal did pose a risk. Thimerosal used as a
preservative in vaccines is likely related to the
autism epidemic. This epidemic in all probability
may have been prevented or curtailed had the FDA
not been asleep at the switch regarding the lack of
safety data regarding injected thimerosal and the
sharp rise of infant exposure to this known
neurotoxin. Our public health agencies’ failure to act
is indicative of institutional malfeasance for self-
protection and misplaced protectionism of the
pharmaceutical industry.”