PEDIATRICS Vol. 104 No. 3 September 1999, pp. 568-569

JOINT STATEMENT OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY OF PEDIATRICS (AAP) AND THE UNITED STATES PUBLIC HEALTH SERVICE (USPHS)

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Modernization Act of 1997 called for the FDA to review and assess the risk of all mercury containing food and drugs. In line with this review, US vaccine manufacturers responded to a December 1998 and April 1999 FDA request to provide more detailed information about the thimerosal content of their preparations that include this compound as a preservative. Thimerosal has been used as an additive to biologics and vaccines since the 1930s because it is very effective in killing bacteria used in several vaccines and in preventing bacterial contamination, particularly in opened multidose containers. Some but not all of the vaccines recommended routinely for children in the United States contain thimerosal.

There is a significant safety margin incorporated into all the acceptable mercury exposure limits. Furthermore, there are no data or evidence of any harm caused by the level of exposure that some children may have encountered in following the existing immunization schedule. Infants and children who have received thimerosal-containing vaccines do not need to be tested for mercury exposure.

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http://aappolicy.aappublications.org/cgi/content/full/pediatrics;104/3/568

http://nomercury.org/science/documents/AAP-USPHS_Joint_Statement.pdf

Posted on May 2nd, 2009 by gorg
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