VACCINE

Indian Journal Of Medical Ethics • October 2014
Thimerosal as discrimination:
vaccine disparity in the UN Minamata Convention on mercury
Author information
Sykes LK1, Geier DA2, King PG1, Kern JK3, Haley BE1,
Chaigneau CG1, Megson MN4, Love JM5, Reeves RE1, Geier MR2.
1. CoMeD, Inc, Silver Spring, MD USA
2. CoMeD, Inc, Silver Spring, MD; Institute of Chronic Illnesses, Inc, Silver Spring, MD USA
3. Institute of Chronic Illnesses, Inc, Silver Spring, MD USA
4. Pediatric and Adolescent Ability Center, Richmond, VA USA
5. CoMeD, Inc, Silver Spring, MD USA
Abstract
When addressing toxins, one unmistakable parallel exists between biology and politics: developing
children and developing nations are those most vulnerable to toxic exposures. This disturbing parallel
is the subject of this critical review, which examines the use and distribution of the mercury (Hg)-
based compound, thimerosal, in vaccines. Developed in 1927, thimerosal is 49.55% Hg by weight
and breaks down in the body into ethyl-Hg chloride, ethyl-Hg hydroxide and sodium thiosalicylate.
Since the early 1930s, there has been evidence indicating that thimerosal poses a hazard to the health
of human beings and is ineffective as an antimicrobial agent. While children in the developed and
predominantly western nations receive doses of mostly no-thimerosal and reduced-thimerosal vaccines,
children in the developing nations receive many doses of several unreduced thimerosal-containing
vaccines (TCVs). Thus, thimerosal has continued to be a part of the global vaccine supply
and its acceptability as a component of vaccine formulations remained unchallenged until 2010,
when the United Nations (UN), through the UN Environment Programme, began negotiations to
write the global, legally binding Minamata Convention on Hg. During the negotiations, TCVs were
dropped from the list of Hg-containing products to be regulated. Consequently, a double standard
in vaccine safety, which previously existed due to ignorance and economic reasons, has now been
institutionalised as global policy. Ultimately, the Minamata Convention on Hg has sanctioned the
inequitable distribution of thimerosal by specifically exempting TCVs from regulation, condoning a
two-tier standard of vaccine safety: a predominantly no-thimerosal and reduced-thimerosal standard
for developed nations and a predominantly thimerosal-containing one for developing nations. This
disparity must now be evaluated urgently as a potential form of institutionalised discrimination.
“While children in the developed
and predominantly western nations
receive doses of mostly no-thimerosal
and reduced-thimerosal vaccines, children
in the developing nations receive many doses
of several unreduced thimerosal-containing vaccines (TCVs).”
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/?term=25101548