Is the mercury used as a preservative in vaccines dangerous to children? The balance of evidence up to now suggests not, and a new study supports this conclusion. It turns out that the mercury compounds in question behave quite differently in the body from those on which the original inferences were based.
The mercury used in vaccines is in the form of ethyl mercury, and in 1999 paediatricians in the US said that it should be phased out. At that time, little was known about its toxicity, so the decision was based on the known hazards of methyl mercury, which…
