IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v11y2014i9p9156-9170d39953.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

A Dose-Response Relationship between Organic Mercury Exposure from Thimerosal-Containing Vaccines and Neurodevelopmental Disorders

Author

Listed:
  • David A. Geier

    (Institute of Chronic Illnesses, Inc., 14 Redgate Ct., Silver Spring, MD 20905, USA)

  • Brian S. Hooker

    (Department of Biology, Simpson University, 2211 College View Dr., Redding, CA 96003, USA)

  • Janet K. Kern

    (Institute of Chronic Illnesses, Inc., 14 Redgate Ct., Silver Spring, MD 20905, USA
    Department of Psychiatry, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas, 5353 Harry Hine Blvd., Dallas, TX 75390, USA)

  • Paul G. King

    (CoMeD, Inc., 14 Redgate Ct., Silver Spring, MD 20905, USA)

  • Lisa K. Sykes

    (CoMeD, Inc., 14 Redgate Ct., Silver Spring, MD 20905, USA)

  • Mark R. Geier

    (Institute of Chronic Illnesses, Inc., 14 Redgate Ct., Silver Spring, MD 20905, USA)

Abstract

A hypothesis testing case-control study evaluated concerns about the toxic effects of organic-mercury (Hg) exposure from thimerosal-containing (49.55% Hg by weight) vaccines on the risk of neurodevelopmental disorders (NDs). Automated medical records were examined to identify cases and controls enrolled from their date-of-birth (1991–2000) in the Vaccine Safety Datalink (VSD) project. ND cases were diagnosed with pervasive developmental disorder (PDD), specific developmental delay, tic disorder or hyperkinetic syndrome of childhood. In addition, putative non-thimerosal-related outcomes of febrile seizure, failure to thrive and cerebral degenerations were examined. The cumulative total dose of Hg exposure from thimerosal-containing hepatitis B vaccine (T-HBV) administered within the first six months of life was calculated. On a per microgram of organic-Hg basis, PDD (odds ratio (OR) = 1.054), specific developmental delay (OR = 1.035), tic disorder (OR = 1.034) and hyperkinetic syndrome of childhood (OR = 1.05) cases were significantly more likely than controls to receive increased organic-Hg exposure. By contrast, none of the non-thimerosal related outcomes were significantly more likely than the controls to have received increased organic-Hg exposure. Routine childhood vaccination may be an important public health tool to reduce infectious disease-associated morbidity/mortality, but the present study significantly associates organic-Hg exposure from T-HBV with an increased risk of an ND diagnosis.

Suggested Citation

  • David A. Geier & Brian S. Hooker & Janet K. Kern & Paul G. King & Lisa K. Sykes & Mark R. Geier, 2014. "A Dose-Response Relationship between Organic Mercury Exposure from Thimerosal-Containing Vaccines and Neurodevelopmental Disorders," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 11(9), pages 1-15, September.
  • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:11:y:2014:i:9:p:9156-9170:d:39953
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/11/9/9156/pdf
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/11/9/9156/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Janet K. Kern & Boyd E. Haley & David A. Geier & Lisa K. Sykes & Paul G. King & Mark R. Geier, 2013. "Thimerosal Exposure and the Role of Sulfation Chemistry and Thiol Availability in Autism," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 10(8), pages 1-30, August.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. José G. Dórea, 2015. "Exposure to Mercury and Aluminum in Early Life: Developmental Vulnerability as a Modifying Factor in Neurologic and Immunologic Effects," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 12(2), pages 1-19, January.
    2. David A. Geier & Janet K. Kern & Kristin G. Homme & Mark R. Geier, 2018. "A Cross-Sectional Study of the Association between Infant Hepatitis B Vaccine Exposure in Boys and the Risk of Adverse Effects as Measured by Receipt of Special Education Services," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 15(1), pages 1-15, January.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Lara Ferreira Azevedo & Nina Karpova & Bruno Alves Rocha & Fernando Barbosa Junior & Glenda Carolyn Gobe & Maria Fernanda Hornos Carneiro, 2023. "Evidence on Neurotoxicity after Intrauterine and Childhood Exposure to Organomercurials," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(2), pages 1-19, January.
    2. José G. Dórea, 2015. "Exposure to Mercury and Aluminum in Early Life: Developmental Vulnerability as a Modifying Factor in Neurologic and Immunologic Effects," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 12(2), pages 1-19, January.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:11:y:2014:i:9:p:9156-9170:d:39953. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.