Claim: The reaction between metallic mercury and aluminum, which produces a dramatic chain reaction popular on YouTube science channels, is evidence that vaccines are not safe.
Verdict: REFUTES

Retrieved passages:
title: H. Vasken Aposhian
text: how MMR and thimerosal-containing vaccines might have worked together to cause autism. The proposed mechanism involved something known as "mercury efflux disorder", and Aposhian testified that "The hypothesis was made less than three or four weeks ago." He also stated that efflux disorders have been documented before, and described them as "problems with getting a metal, in this case mercury, out of a cell," citing Wilson's disease as an example thereof. Aposhian also testified, with regard to the concept of a dose-response relationship, that "This is an ancient form of quotation that until recently we taught in medical schools, and

title: Vaccine controversies
text: with serious adverse events. In some cases, aluminium-containing vaccines are associated with macrophagic myofasciitis (MMF), localized microscopic lesions containing aluminium salts that persist for up to 8 years. However, recent case-controlled studies have found no specific clinical symptoms in individuals with biopsies showing MMF, and there is no evidence that aluminium-containing vaccines are a serious health risk or justify changes to immunization practice. When the U.S. military began requiring its troops to receive the anthrax vaccine, multiple US military troops refused to do so, which led to threats of military courts martial. During the 2009 flu pandemic, significant controversy broke

title: Cedillo v. Secretary of Health and Human Services
text: body burden of mercury." Another study which Aposhian used to back up this statement was one conducted by Jeff Bradstreet and Mark Geier, which gave dimercaptosuccinic acid, a chelating agent, to children and concluded that children with autism excreted much more mercury thereafter than children without autism. Aposhian also cited a number of in vitro studies as evidence that thimerosal could cause immune system dysregulation. The following day, the plaintiffs presented their second argument, namely that the measles vaccine had caused intestinal damage. Their witness that day was gastroenterologist Arthur Krigsman, who testified that his opinion in the case depended

title: Mercury poisoning
text: absorbed through direct skin contact. Mercury and its compounds are commonly used in chemical laboratories, hospitals, dental clinics, and facilities involved in the production of items such as fluorescent light bulbs, batteries, and explosives. Many traditional medicines, including Ayurvedic medicine and Traditional Chinese medicine contain mercury and other heavy metals. No scientific data support the claim that mercury compounds in vaccine preservatives cause autism or its symptoms. Compounds of mercury tend to be much more toxic than either the elemental form or the salts. These compounds have been implicated in causing brain and liver damage. The most dangerous mercury compound,

title: Dan Burton
text: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver a C-SPAN 2 clip from 2002 of Dan Burton was used to highlight Burton's position on vaccines in relation to autism. In the clip Burton says, "I have yet to find any scientist who will say that there is no doubt, no doubt, that the mercury in vaccines does not contribute to autism. Now they'll say there's no scientific evidence, there's no studies or anything that proves that yet. But turn that around. There are no studies that disprove it either." John Oliver correctly highlights this as Burton's demand for "proving a negative" which

title: Mercury poisoning
text: a purgative. Many mercury-containing compounds were once used in medicines. These include calomel (mercurous chloride), and mercuric chloride. In 1999, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) asked vaccine makers to remove the organomercury compound thiomersal (spelled "thimerosal" in the US) from vaccines as quickly as possible, and thiomersal has been phased out of US and European vaccines, except for some preparations of influenza vaccine. The CDC and the AAP followed the precautionary principle, which assumes that there is no harm in exercising caution even if it later turns out to be unwarranted, but

title: Cedillo v. Secretary of Health and Human Services
text: Michelle's autism. He stated that "there was not a single study indicating that any form of mercury could cause serious neurological symptoms in the dosages that were used in vaccines" and criticized Aposhian's use of in vitro studies and his equating them to what happens in the actual animal, arguing that "the exposure to a cell in a petri dish was far more likely to cause damage than an equivalent dosage in a living system." With regard to specific in vitro studies, Brent argued that the Goth study was flawed because it tested thimerosal on mouse cells, not human cells;

title: Dan Burton
text: Burton wrote, adding "Every day that mercury-containing vaccines remain on the market is another day HHS is putting 8,000 children at risk." The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention did not agree that vaccines containing mercury caused autism, and the US FDA refused to ban the vaccines. Most manufacturers removed the preservatives from their vaccines anyway, with no resulting decrease in autism rates. Burton continues to maintain a page on his Congressional website called House.gov "Autism" which includes his speeches, transcripts from hearings, and newspaper articles on the relationship of autism and vaccines. In a June 2017 episode of

title: Neurotoxin
text: with age, and have been shown to correlate with Alzheimer’s Disease, implicating it as a neurotoxic causative compound of the disease. Despite its known toxicity, aluminum is still extensively utilized in the packaging and preparing of food, while other toxic metals such as lead have been almost entirely phased-out of use in these industries. Mercury is capable of inducing CNS damage by migrating into the brain by crossing the BBB. Mercury exists in a number of different compounds, though methylmercury (MeHg), dimethylmercury and diethylmercury are the only significantly neurotoxic forms. Diethylmercury and dimethylmercury are considered some of the most potent

title: Mercury (element)
text: to trace amounts in all U.S. vaccines recommended for children 6 years of age and under, with the exception of inactivated influenza vaccine. Another mercury compound, merbromin (Mercurochrome), is a topical antiseptic used for minor cuts and scrapes that is still in use in some countries. Mercury in the form of one of its common ores, cinnabar, is used in various traditional medicines, especially in traditional Chinese medicine. Review of its safety has found that cinnabar can lead to significant mercury intoxication when heated, consumed in overdose, or taken long term, and can have adverse effects at therapeutic doses, though

title: Thiomersal controversy
text: microbial growth during the manufacturing process or when packaged as "multi-dose" products to allow for multiple punctures of the same vial to dispense multiple vaccinations with less fear of contamination. After the FDA Modernization Act of 1997 mandated a review and risk assessment of all mercury-containing food and drugs, vaccine manufacturers responded to FDA requests made in December 1998 and April 1999 to provide detailed information about the thiomersal content of their preparations. A review of the data showed that while the vaccine schedule for infants did not exceed FDA, Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR), or WHO

title: Christopher Shaw (neuroscientist)
text: had co-authored in the "Journal of Inorganic Biochemistry", claiming to find that aluminum in vaccines caused symptoms "consistent with those in autism" in mice, after multiple other researchers had criticized the underlying data as invalid or falsified. After seeing some of these criticisms on PubPeer, Shaw and his lab reanalyzed the figures that had been criticized, and requested a retraction from the journal, saying "It appears as if some of the images in mostly what were non-significant results had been flipped. We don't know why, we don't know how … but there was a screw-up, there's no question about that."

title: Jill Stein
text: mercury exposure. That was an issue at one point in vaccines. That's been rectified," adding, "there are issues about mercury in the fish supply that many low-income people and immigrant communities rely on, and in indigenous communities especially. This is a huge issue and the FDA has refused for decades to regulate and to warn people." In an October 21, 2016, interview, producer Bec Gill with the ScIQ YouTube channel asked Stein: "You talk extensively on your concern about corporate influence over U.S. vaccine regulations. My question is, what evidence do you have that corporate influence has caused either the

title: Trace Amounts
text: Trace Amounts Trace Amounts: Autism, Mercury, and the Hidden Truth is a 2014 anti-vaccine film promoting a purported link between vaccines and autism. The current scientific consensus is that no convincing scientific evidence supports these claims, and a 2011 journal article described the vaccine-autism connection as "the most damaging medical hoax of the last 100 years". The film has been promoted by celebrities including Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. It was marketed through targeted "boutique screenings" to celebrities known to be sympathetic to the anti-vaccination cause, including Jim Carrey, Ed Begley, Jr., and Bob Sears, and is credited with inspiring Carrey's

title: Thiomersal controversy
text: methylmercury as well as ethylmercury, have significant differences from the brains of people with autism. Previous episodes of widespread mercury toxicity in a population such as in Minamata Bay, Japan would also be expected to lead to documentation of a significant rise in autism or autism-like behavior in children should autism be caused by mercury poisoning. However, research on several episodes of acute and chronic mercury poisoning have not documented any such rise in autism-like behavior. Although some parents cite an association between the timing of onset of autistic symptoms with the timing of vaccinations as evidence of an environmental

title: James B. Adams (professor)
text: Oral Medicine and Toxicology, a group that publicizes the purported dangers of dental amalgam despite abundant scientific evidence to the contrary. In a 2006 NBC News interview, Adams noted that acrodynia, a condition that afflicted children roughly a hundred years ago, was found to be caused by mercury-containing teething powders, and that "symptoms of acrodynia were pretty similar to symptoms of autism". However, multiple sources, including a paper published in the medical journal "Pediatrics", have noted major differences between the symptoms of mercury poisoning and those of autism. In 2016, Adams came under fire for posting an advertisement for the

title: 2009 flu pandemic vaccine
text: reviews came to similar conclusions, with a 2006 review in the "Canadian Journal of Neurological Sciences" stating that there is no convincing evidence to support the claim that thimerosal has a causal role in autism, and a 2009 review in the journal "Clinical Infectious Diseases" stating that claims that mercury can cause autism are "biologically implausible". The U.K. National Health Service stated in 2003 that "There is no evidence of long-term adverse effects due to the exposure levels of thiomersal in vaccines." The World Health Organization concluded that there is "no evidence of toxicity in infants, children or adults exposed

title: Eli Stone
text: collected reviews. Season two was met with a more enthusiastic response, and holds a Metacritic score of 72 out 100, based on 9 collected reviews. The debut episode attracted controversy due to its plot line, which depicts the hypothesis that autism is caused by a mercury-based preservative formerly used in common childhood vaccines and treats the hypothesis as being credible and legally compelling. This hypothesis is not supported by scientific evidence, but has contributed to decreased vaccination rates. The American Academy of Pediatrics asked ABC to either cancel the episode or include a disclaimer emphasizing that mercury is not used

title: Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation
text: JCVI, it has been shown that the amount of mercury in the blood of children receiving thimerosal-containing vaccines is well below levels that may be "associated with any toxic effects." Reports reviewed by the JCVI contend that mercury exposure in the UK immunisation programme is low. However, JCVI endorsed recommendations to remove the preservative "even though there is no evidence of toxicity, as a precautionary measure, thiomersal should be phased out over time..." Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) is an independent expert advisory committee of the United Kingdom Department of Health.

title: MMR vaccine controversy
text: chain reaction analysis essential to the Wakefield "et al." results was fatally flawed due to contamination, and that it could not have possibly detected the measles that it was supposed to have detected. A 2009 review of studies on links between vaccines and autism discussed the MMR vaccine controversy as one of three main hypotheses that epidemiological and biological studies failed to support. In 2012, the Cochrane Library published a review of dozens of scientific studies involving about 14,700,000 children, which found no credible evidence of an involvement of MMR with either autism or Crohn's disease. The authors stated "the