By Rev. Lisa K. Sykes, President of the Coalition for Mercury-free Drugs (CoMeD), Dr. John Kall, DMD, Chairman of the Board of the International Academy of Oral Medicine and Toxicology (IAOMT), and Amanda Just, Consumer
Monday, June 9, 2014
The health of the future generations in the United States and around the world is in your hands.
It is in your hands because you have the power to teach parents, pregnant women, women of childbearing age, and caregivers something they absolutely need to know but often don’t: patients have a right to opt for non-toxic options when making health care choices for themselves and their children. Sadly, the public is largely unaware of toxic amounts of mercury in such essential things as vaccines, flu shots, and dental fillings.
The public, especially parents and parents-to-be, need to be informed because research from the University of Texas has linked mercury exposure with children who require special education at a higher rate than their unexposed peers. Even worse, Dr. Goldman published a peer-reviewed study in Human and Experimental Toxicology revealing that administering multiple Thimerosal-containing flu shots to pregnant women resulted in a significant increase in spontaneous abortions and stillbirths.
Most people are also not aware that some vaccines, flu shots, and dental fillings used in the US and other countries contain mercury, and mercury in any form or amount is known to be poisonous and damaging to the human body, especially to the developing bodies of fetuses and children. Likewise, most people are not aware that they can opt for mercury-free alternatives simply by asking for mercury-free vaccines, flu shots, and dental fillings.
The responsibility of warning others about this fact has been left to you because most governmental authorities around the globe have failed to take action on this urgent matter.
Mercury in Vaccines
In regard to vaccines and flu shots, much of the general public and even the medical community incorrectly assumes mercury has been removed or banned from vaccines administered in the US, which is untrue. While many western nations have banned mercury in vaccines, the US still licenses vaccines and flu shots with thimerosal, a preservative containing 49.55% mercury. Developing countries fare worse, as many of their vaccines contain higher levels of mercury than those used in the US. This suggests that world health officials are discriminating against developing nations by sanctioning a double standard for vaccine safety.
All of this is happening in spite of the fact that recent scientific studies from Brazil and China have confirmed the conclusion of independent studies conducted for the past 70 years: thimerosal is potentially harmful to children.
Furthermore, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has failed to establish a maximum safe exposure limit for thimerosal, and the 2013 Minamata Convention on Mercury, negotiated through the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), elected to exempt vaccines from a lengthy list of mercury-containing products to be regulated.
Meanwhile, as long ago as 2004, when discussing the need for scientific research about the presence of mercury in children’s vaccines, Scott Bloch, speaking as US Special Counsel at that time, noted that “parents and others should also know that they can request a mercury-free vaccine.”
Mercury in Dental Amalgam Fillings
In regard to dental mercury, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) agreed to a global phase down of dental amalgam in the 2013 Minamata Convention on Mercury, now signed by over 90 countries including the US. However, the phase-down is voluntary and has been criticized by researchers from the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine and California Western School of Law because it “fails to establish binding targets on a phase down.”
Additionally, the governments of Norway, Sweden, and Denmark have banned the use of “amalgam” fillings (which contain 50% mercury and are often called “silver” or “amalgam” fillings), and other countries including Germany, Canada, France, Finland, and Austria have taken a variety of measures against using dental mercury for pregnant women and children.
Yet, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has not fulfilled its obligation to rule on this issue based on scientific research and concerns raised at a Dental Products Panel hearing in 2010. At the 2010 FDA meeting about dental amalgam, Dr. Suresh Kotagal, a pediatric neurologist at the Mayo Clinic, stated: “…I think that there is really no place for mercury in children.”
Why You Need to Help
What this all means is that citizens who are aware of these toxic health practices now have the responsibility of educating others, especially parents, pregnant women, and women of childbearing age. This is exactly why the new grassroots campaign Mercury Free Baby was started in April in Louisville, KY.
Knowing that science has shown mercury in all forms and amounts to be a health risk, Mercury Free Baby strives to ensure that no child, born or unborn, ever receives avoidable mercury exposure from a product that was supposed to improve their health. The overall message of the campaign is to educate caregivers to “choose mercury-free vaccines, flu shots, and dental fillings for yourself and your children.” By sharing this message, Mercury Free Baby hopes consumers, medical practitioners, and others will join them in making the world, and the womb, a safer place for children by protecting them from unnecessary and unsafe mercury exposures.
What You Can Do to Help
The premise of the campaign is that citizens like you will use your power to spread the Mercury Free Baby message by joining the group on the Mercury Free Baby website, sharing it on social media networks such as Facebook and Twitter, downloading, printing, and distributing a brochure about mercury-free health choices, and simply telling others about this issue.
The campaign is a joint project of the Coalition for Mercury-free Drugs (CoMeD) and the International Academy of Medicine and Toxicology (IAOMT). The Coalition for Mercury Free Drugs (CoMeD) is a 501(C)(3) not-for-profit group dedicated to reducing the mercury-exposure risks, for the unborn, infants, children, adolescents and adults, from all mercury-containing medical products to which they are, or may be, exposed. The International Academy of Oral Medicine and Toxicology (IAOMT) is a 501(C)(3) not-for-profit group dedicated to promoting the health of the public at large, especially by continually examining and compiling scientific research relating to the biocompatibility of oral/dental materials.
The children of this world need you, and we look forward to your support in helping us spread the word about mercury in vaccines and dental fillings. Together, we can encourage mercury-free practices and prevent unwanted mercury exposures, while protecting the health of the future generations of this world.
By Rev. Lisa K. Sykes, President of the Coalition for Mercury-free Drugs (CoMeD), Dr. John Kall, DMD, Chairman of the Board of the International Academy of Oral Medicine and Toxicology (IAOMT), and Amanda Just, Consumer