Comments on: Mercury Excretion in Infants

By: Science-Based Medicine » When “investigative reporting” becomes anti-vaccine propaganda

Mon, 14 Jul 2008 13:20:43 +0000

[...] Mercury Excretion in Infants [...]

By: Are you really that stupid?Autism rate are rising because of incr…

Are you really that stupid?Autism rate are rising because of incr… — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 02:09:55 +0000

[...] mysterious magical autism causing vaccines. MERCURY DOES NOT CAUSE AUTISM WHEN USED IN VACCINES. http://www.theness.com/neurologicablog/index.php?p … http://www.theness.com/neurologicablog/index.php?p … [...]

By: Four strikes against the vaccine/autism theory « Dangblog

Four strikes against the vaccine/autism theory « Dangblog — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 05:54:44 +0000

[...] A person would be putting his or her child at risk by not getting the kid vaccinated. Thanks to the Neurologica blog for 3/4 of this information. Published [...]

By: _Arthur

_Arthur — Tue, 05 Feb 2008 00:26:21 +0000

Apropos of Jon Barron speculation, if the hidden mercury is not in the blood, how is chelation supposed to remove it ?

Can the chelating agent reach into, say, fatty deposits ?
As far I can figure it out chelation would mostly remove mercury from the blood, if any.

By: Steve Page

Steve Page — Mon, 04 Feb 2008 23:50:06 +0000

Great article Dr S, but unfortunately, the vaccine-as-cause-of-autism group (I tried to think of an acronym that spent MENTAL but I’ve had too much Famous Grouse) will ignore it and continue unabated. The poster above yours, jeanruss, is a typical example; ignore the study, ignore the evidence, find someone to blame for your misfortune.

I don’t mean to sound hard; my brother has Asperger’s Syndrome, so I have spent a great deal of time examining autistic spectrum disorders (ASD) and the conclusion that I’ve reached is that ASDs are nothing to do with vaccines. I’m not looking for anyone to blame though, so my conclusion will undoubtedly be different from those who are.

By: Scotty B

Scotty B — Mon, 04 Feb 2008 22:13:10 +0000

“This will better track where all the mercury is going and will help rule out the possibility that it is hiding for a time in another compartment of the body (and therefore not measured in the blood).”

Would it be possible to put a radioactive “tag” on the Thimerosal molecule to track where it goes in other apes?

By: Steven Novella

Steven Novella — Mon, 04 Feb 2008 20:55:03 +0000

Jon Barron is hardly a reliable source – he is just trying to sell his own quack detox programs. So he directly profits from the bad science he is selling.

He wrote:
“Just because blood levels of mercury drop doesn’t necessarily mean that the mercury has been excreted from the body — only that it has left the bloodstream.

* Shame on the doctors for using such faulty logic to reach their conclusions.
* Shame on the vaunted peer review process for allowing such blatantly faulty logic to go unnoticed
* Shame on Forbes, Associated Press, Science Daily, and the more than 200 other news outlets that have already published the results of the study without challenging the absurdity of its logic. Hey, no medical knowledge is required to figure this out — just simple logical. You’re supposed to be reporters — not shills.”

Apparently Jon Barron – who wants to chelate the mercury out of you – either did not actually read the study or just doesn’t care about the facts as long as he can sell his products. Urine mercury was measured, although levels did not rise significantly. But he does not mention that stool mercury was measured and the level of mercury rose and fell in the stool just as it did in the blood. This strongly suggests that at least some of the mercury is being excreted in the stool.

Also – the study authors honestly discussed the limitations of their study, that only spot levels were done and not 24 hour levels, and a future study looking at 24 hour stool mercury excretion would account in more detail for how much of the mercury is being excreted. They also specifically discussed the 2-compartment hypothesis – that the mercury leaving the blood does not necessarily mean it’s leaving the body. That means that Jon Barron is a dishonest crank. He criticizes reporters for shilling for Big Pharma meanwhile he is shilling for his own quack nostrums.

By: jeanruss

jeanruss — Mon, 04 Feb 2008 19:08:46 +0000

A good review of this topic and the junk science of this study can be found at jonbarron.com. As more parents learn, as I did, how damaging vaccines can be, they will be increasingly reluctant to donate their children’s health to science.

By: ellazimm

ellazimm — Mon, 04 Feb 2008 16:57:24 +0000

mattdick: I was going to say it’s too bad we can’t figure out a way to make money out of cognitive dissonance but I think it’s already been done: alcohol.

By: mattdick

mattdick — Mon, 04 Feb 2008 16:31:08 +0000

It’s amazing the amount of effort that is being required for the mercury militia folks to get the message. You can’t argue that they are insincere in their dedication to finding the cause for Autism. So why can’t they see that their energies can be so much better spent elsewhere?

Imagine if they turned their energies toward gene therapy, or earlier diagnosis? What a great militia they would then become!