Originally published October 28 2005
Mercury is one suspected cause of autism
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor
The debate still rages about whether ethyl mercury is responsible for the introduction of autism into modern society, as historical coincidence would suggest.
In 1924: "The present invention relates to the production of water soluble organo-metallic compounds ...
In 1926: "This invention relates to the treatment of infections of soil, and more particularly to the use of mercury and other compounds in conjunction with a fertilizer and its application to the infected soil."
Kharasch, who died in 1957, is widely known for work reflected in that 1924 patent: the creation of thimerosal, the ethyl-mercury-based preservative used in a wide range of medical products including vaccines.
It allowed for multidose vials and mass vaccination.
Less recognized is his invention of similar ethyl-mercury applications for fungicides, reflected in that 1926 patent for "the treatment of infections of soil."
Blaxill's theory is simple: The possibility of fungicide exposure connects some of the first 11 cases diagnosed by child psychiatrist Leo Kanner.
The idea that ethyl mercury -- in vaccines or anything else -- causes autism is hotly debated.
The notion has been firmly rejected by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Institute of Medicine, part of the National Academies of Science.
"What's fascinating is if you look at the natural history of autism and ethyl mercury, there's a pretty interesting coincidence in time and place," said SafeMinds' Blaxill.
-- A trademark for "Ceresan," an ethyl-mercury-based fungicide, was filed in 1929.
"Kharasch came to Chicago from the Ukraine at the age of 13, and spent most of his professional career at the University of Chicago," according to the Web site of the University of Michigan Chemistry Department.
We asked Boyd Haley, a professor and former chair of the chemistry department at the University of Kentucky, to look at the early ethyl mercury fungicide and thimerosal patents.
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