Iowa: First State To Ban Mercury In Vaccines



A Quiet Victory in Iowa

AlterNet.org



With
little fanfare or national media attention, Iowa Gov. Thomas J. Vilsack
on May 14 signed into law a state ban on the use of thimerosal, a
mercury preservative used in vaccines. Iowa becomes the first state in
the country to ban thimerosal, which is at the center of medical and
legal debates over the cause of autism disorders, now affecting as many
as 1 in 250 children. Similar bills are pending in the legislatures of
Missouri and Nebraska, and in April, a bill to ban thimerosal was
introduced in Congress.



Iowa's
action opened a new political front in a parent-led movement to
establish a link between thimerosal and autism and to hold accountable
pharmaceutical companies and the federal health agencies that permitted
its use since the '40s. Only in 1999, after mounting scientific
concerns about possible toxicity to children of mercury-laced vaccines,
did the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issue a
recommendation that vaccine makers remove thimerosal. The CDC still has
not issued an outright ban on thimerosal, and some vaccines, including
flu shots, still contain trace amounts.



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