Chemicals used in some vaccines linked to autism
As a parent of a child who is nearly recovered from autism, I was appalled by Kristin Horner's letter, "Professional journals aid scientific understanding" (SN 6/19), which includes scathing criticism of Dr. David Ayoub, and his hard work and dedication to families affected by autism. I am left to wonder what would motivate a graduate student studying anthropology to pen a letter about a subject in which she has no apparent expertise. The evidence linking the mercury-based vaccine preservative Thimerosal to autism is extensive. All one has to do is read the Material Safety Data Sheet, or MSDS, for Thimerosal to understand it is a dangerous neurotoxin, capable of causing "severe mental retardation and moderate to severe motor coordination impairment." My own child, who was exposed to amounts of ethylmercury in the form of Thimerosal that exceeded Environmental Protection Agency safe-exposure guidelines by many hundreds of times, has been confirmed mercury toxic, via urinary porphyrin analysis.