Recently, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices announced that it would only support flu vaccines that were mercury free. While that may sound like a very wise decision, it is actually a solution to a nonexistent problem.
According to the CDC, 96% of all flu vaccines in the U.S. administered last fall and winter were mercury-free. The use of thimerosal — a vaccine preservative containing a minute amount of ethyl mercury — has been a favorite target of anti-vaccine proponents like RFK Jr. for years. Thimerosal was removed from all childhood vaccines a number of years ago to end this perceived risk. However, it is still used in some adult vaccines.
The anti-vaccine folks do not understand that there are actually two distinct organic forms of mercury, Methylmercury and ethyl mercury, which have different properties and associated health risks.
Methylmercury, commonly found in fish, is known for its neurotoxicity and long half-life, potentially causing developmental issues and neurological damage. Ethyl mercury, primarily found in thimerosal, is eliminated from the body much faster and is considered less toxic than methylmercury. If RFK Jr. was sincerely interested in reducing the public health risks associated with mercury, he might consider addressing the real public health mercury problem: the contamination of our food from coal fired power plants.
Coal-fired power plants are a significant source of methylmercury emissions into the atmosphere. In the U.S., coal combustion is the largest single contributor to atmospheric mercury accounting for nearly 50% of emissions, according to Ground Truth Alaska. The EPA states that 50 tons of elemental mercury are released each year from U.S. coal burning power plants. This mercury eventually ends up in our food, especially various species of fish including tuna, swordfish and tilapia.
High mercury levels can pose health risks, particularly for developing fetuses and young children. Therefore, pregnant women, those trying to conceive and young children should limit or avoid consumption of swordfish and other seafood. Unfortunately, RFK Jr. will ignore this real mercury threat because his boss’s agenda calls for increasing the amount of coal that is mined and burned for electricity, thereby increasing the amount of mercury released into the atmosphere.
Rather than have the FDA increase testing of foods and providing more health advisories when high levels of mercury is found in our food, RFK Jr. will distract us by focusing on a non-existent problem.
Rich DiPentima of Portsmouth has served as Chief of Communicable Disease Epidemiology and Assistant Director of Public Health for the NH Division of Public Health Services (NHDPHS), Deputy Public Health Director for the Manchester Health Department and is a retired NH Air National Guard public health officer.