Subject: Thymerasol Filtering
From: "Timothy S O'Neill" <tsoneill@iastate.edu>
Date: Fri, 9 Jan 1998 09:38:31 -0500 (EST)
List-Name: P2Tech
Reply-To: p2tech@great-lakes.net
Hello.
My name is Tim O'Neill and I am a graduate assistant at the Industrial Assessment Center at Iowa State University. We are currently in the process of performing an audit an animal vaccine company in our region and we have come up against a problem which involves the disposal of a hazardous chemical.
Here is a description of the problem:
Currently the vaccine company has a policy to buy back any vaccine which goes past the expiration date while in the possession of a customer. This vaccine, upon being received back at the facility, must be disposed of.A large portion of these vaccines contain a chemical called "Thymerasol," a mercury based preservative, as an ingredient. Because of this mercury content, the returned material must be disposed of as hazardous waste.
The current method of disposal consists of throwing the individual vials of vaccine, container and all, into 55-gallon drums which are in turn taken off-site by a haz. waste disposal firm (this waste stream totalled 9,600 gallons in 1996, at a cost of $600/55-gallon drum).
We were wondering if there exists any type of a filtering system (activated carbon, ion exchange, etc.) which would be able to handle this type of application. Another alternative which may exist would be to somehow separate and recover the mercury itself. For example, is there some way to cause the mercury to separate and percipitate out of the solution?
Also, would someone be willing to give me a rough estimate on what such a system--if it exists--would cost?
I thank everyone in advance for your help. If you need any more information, feel free to email or call me here at the office (515.294.0079).
Tim O'Neill
Industrial Assessment Center
Iowa State
University
...nuff said.
5 comments:
Wow! themersol wasn't taken out of childrens vaccines until 2000. They quit using them in pet vaccines in 1990. Themersol is a preservative, it's only purpose is to preserve the shelf-life of vaccines.
oh yeah sorry, to answer your question, no it can't be filtered out. I was trying to find a story I read recently about this. I'll try to explain as best I can. The child vaccines that no longer contain themersol do still contain trace amounts of mercury because they use mercury to process the vaccines somehow. The trace mercury is still there because it binds, it can't be filtered out. What makes themersol 50 times more toxic is the fact that it becomes ethyl-mercury, an organic form of mercury which in a child under two,who has no blood-brain barrier themersol binds to the brain and spinal column. I'm no doctor, but this is how I understand it.
My understanding, and I'm sure someone will correct me if I'm wrong, is that thimerosal is now used as a anti-bacterial agent in the manufacturing process, after which they filter it out. According to one site that had samples from various manufacturers tested, there are pretty wide discrepencies in how much thimerosal is left. Some of the samples apparently had a lot more than the "trace" amounts the manufacturers claim.
More to the point is the question of the efficacy of thimerosal as an anti-bacterial agent. I got a chuckle from reading the following, supposedly coming from a 1948 JAMA article: " It is clear from this research supported by a grant from the American Medical Association that Thimerosal is neither efficacious nor safe, and should be removed as a preservative in prescription biologics and pharmaceutical products, as well as from topical over-the-counter
products ..." Most of the research reviewed in the article indicated that thimerosal was actually more toxic than any of the bacteria it was supposed to destroy. I wonder what's changed since 1948
One thing that has changed since 1948 is
"The elder George Bush sat on Lilly’s board of directors in the 1970s, and White House Budget Director Mitch Daniels was a Lilly executive. Lilly CEO Sidney Taurel was named by President George W. Bush to the Homeland Security Advisory Council. In November 2002, Congress passed a provision, tucked into a spending measure for homeland security, to indemnify Eli Lilly from lawsuits and require families to seek compensation through the federally funded Vaccine Injury Compensation Program. It was repealed in February 2003 after public outcry."
There is even more info on The War On Lies site.
The sad fact of the matter is, is that our government is poisoning our children and is trying to not only cover it up but also to cover thier @$$es incase WE find out about the lies. An even sadder fact is that when we try to warn and inform our friends that are expecting/recently had children, we get blown off, no one listens. "It cant happen to me" is such an typical view until it hits home. We are viewed as being over dramatic, left of center, way out there, and granted we are not the 'atypical' middle american family. However we are fairly inteligent, most people that know us wont argue with that, yet the information we have to offer is viewed with mistrust and jaded opinions. How could we possibly know what the FDA, CDC and legislative branches of the government strongly deny. Sometimes it is overwhelming, sometimes its fascinating, but most of the time it is just saddening. Either they dont want to hear it or the wont believe it. And before I blabber on some more Ill just end this post....
Wade,
You are correct about the use of theimerosal in manufacturing. I have heard that Boyd Haley says that it is impossible to filter it all out.
http://www.hapihealth.com is the group you probably heard about. The are new and are trying to do independent testing. They have found mercury where it was not supposed to be and asked the FDA last year to institute a program to test vaccines to make sure they are what they say they are on the label.
They FDA said no. Apparently it is to expensive.
Hapi Health is trying to raise $2000 to do another round of testing. Doen't seem like much money to me.
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