Yes.

Quicksilver is one.

And Ydrargyrum is another.

In many vaccines, a compound (or mixture) called thiomersal, or ethylmercury, is alleged to cause autism and other mercury-toxic damage to vaccinated babies, although this is continuously denied by those making (and so profiting from) vaccines and by the governmental regulatory bodies who purport to protect us but have shown on many occasions to stuggle with conflicts of interest vested in vaccine makers.

There is a popular theory circulating the internet that thimersol in vaccinations has contributed to the increase in Autism levels in the US. There is absolutely no scientific evidence that there is any link between the two. When reading material on the internet about this subject, keep in mind the source of the information. Often the information is only opinion, and not researched scientific data. Vaccinations are vital for the health of all people, and have very few side effects, mostly limited to soreness at the injection site and mild fever. Please read the information provided by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) website for more general information about vaccines and vaccine safety, and from the Vaccine Information Center, which provides scientific evidence for the safety and efficacy of vaccines. Both are provided below in "Related Links" Can autism be caused by Thiomersal from vaccines? Technically the jury is still out... but not for long. And parents armed with their children's lab tests have made up their own minds. Since 2002 the U.S. Federal Omnibus Autism Proceeding has investigated whether Thiomersal (Thimerosal) causes autism. Nearly 5,000 children have cases filed in this area of the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program, and the verdicts may be announced early in 2009. (Link to website below.)

Thimerosal is 49.6% ethylmercury by weight, and mercury in any form is a neurotoxin. Manufacturers Safety Data Sheets for Thimerosal state that the compound is a mutagen (mutates genes) and a teratogen (causes cancer). Research indicates Thimerosal causes damage at nanomolar levels: * 0.5 parts per billion ( ppb) mercury = Kills human neuroblastoma cells (Parran et al., Toxicol Sci 2005; 86: 132-140). * 2 ppb mercury = U.S. EPA limit for drinking water. * 20 ppb mercury = Neurite membrane structure destroyed (Leong et al., Neuroreport * 200 ppb mercury = level in liquid the EPA classifies as hazardous waste. * 600 ppb mercury = Level in a currently licensed Hepatitis B, multi-dose vaccine vial, labeled as trace. This is administered at birth. * 25,000 ppb mercury = Level in 94% of injectable influenza vaccines, 2007-2008. 2001; 12: 733-37). Many scientists and physicians worldwide believe that Thimerosal causes neurological and immunological damage, resulting in behaviors rather erroneously given the psychological label of autism spectrum disorder. Some examples: * Boyd E. Haley, PhD of the University of Kentucky, its former chemistry chair, has done extensive research on mercury toxicity from Thimerosal. * Thomas Burbacher, PhD of the University of Washington worked on a 2005 primate study that found ethylmercury bound to brain tissue more quickly than methylmercury. * Washington state chemist Andrew Hall Cutler, PhD, PE, a former NASA employee, treated himself for mercury poisoning. Cutler advises a large Yahoo listserv on biomedical treatments such as chelation, called "Autism-Mercury," and is the author of "Hair Test Interpretation: Finding Hidden Toxicities." Members of Congress who believe Thimerosal is linked to autism include Rep. Dan Burton (D-IN), Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY), and former Rep. Dave Weldon, M.D. (R-FL). In May 2008 U.S. News & World Report medical editor Dr. Bernadine Healy was interviewed by CBS investigative reporter Sharyl Attkisson. Dr. Healy, a former director of NIH and former head of the American Red Cross, stated, "I think the government or certain public health officials within the government have been too quick to dismiss the concerns of these families without studying the population that got sick." She also said, "I think public health officials have been too quick to dismiss the hypothesis [vaccines can trigger autism] as irrational without sufficient studies of causation." The U.S. Centers for Disease Control has relied on epidemiological studies to defend its vaccine administration politics, rather than seek biological samples from children on the autism spectrum. Other Thimerosal/autism resources: * 2005 book "Evidence of Harm" by investigative journalist David Kirby * The Coalition for SafeMinds (Sensible Action For Ending Mercury-Induced Neurological Disorders) * No Mercury * Jenny McCarthy's Autism Organization - Generation Rescue * PutChildrenFirst.org === === The information on limits on mercury levels and mercury toxicity is based on studies of a different form of mercury (methylmercury), not thiomersal (ethylmercury). They might not have the same toxicity effects at the same amounts. There is a study that has been looking at the differences between both types, published in Environmental Health Perspectives.

Andrew Wakefield, the researcher who controlled the well-known study that claimed a link between autism and vaccinations had falsified the results to show that vaccinations caused autism. In fact, several of his subjects showed signs of autism before the vaccinations. The medical and hospital records of the children were obtained in early 2009, and those show very different results from the ones that Andrew Wakefield claimed. He is defending himself against charges of professional misconduct for his ethical conduct regarding the study. In addition to falsifying the results, he also had accepted funding prior to begining the study to prove that the MMR vaccine was harmful, so it was a conflict of interest when he did this study. The link for "The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia: A Look at What Causes, and Doesn't Cause, Autism" comments on Wakefield's two studies. Also related to autism and thiomersal (U.S.: thimerosal), a review in Clinical Infectious Diseases (February 2009) of the various studies of vaccines and autism show that there is no difference in autism rates between children vaccinated with thiomersal-containing vaccines and children vaccinated with thiomersal-free vaccines.

EDTA is ethylenediamine tetraacetic acid. It's a strong chelating agent. It has many uses including:

• Industrial cleaning: complexation of Ca2+ and Mg2+ ions, binding of heavy metals.
• Detergents: complexation of Ca2+ and Mg2+ (reduction of water hardness).
• Photography: use of Fe(III)EDTA as oxidizing agent.
• Pulp and paper industry: complexation of heavy metals during chlorine-free bleaching, stabilization of hydrogen peroxide.
• Textile industry: complexation of heavy metals, bleach stabilizer.
• Agrochemicals: Fe, Zn and Cu fertilizer, especially in calcareous soils.
• Hydroponics: iron-EDTA is used to solubilize iron in nutrient solutions.

More specialised uses of EDTA are:

• Food: added as preservative to prevent catalytic oxidation by metal ions or stabilizer and for iron fortification.[citation needed]
• Approved by the FDA as a preservative in packaged foods, vitamins, and baby food.
• Personal care: added to cosmetics to improve product stability.[citation needed]
• Oil production: added into the borehole to inhibit mineral precipitation.[citation needed]
• Dairy and beverage industry: cleaning milk stains from bottles.[citation needed]
• Flue gas cleaning: removal of NOx.
• Dentistry as a root canal irrigant to remove organic and inorganic debris (smear layer).[citation needed]
• Soft drinks containing ascorbic acid and sodium benzoate, to mitigate formation of benzene (a carcinogen).[citation needed]
• Recycling: recovery of lead from used lead acid batteries.

Medicine:

• EDTA is used in chelation therapy for acute hypercalcemia, mercury poisoning and lead poisoning[4].
• Combined with chromium, EDTA is used to evaluate kidney function. It is administered intravenously and its filtration into the urine is monitored. This method is considered the gold standard for evaluating glomerular filtration rate, Cr-EDTA's sole way out of the body is via glomerular filtration as it is not secreted or metabolised in any other way.
• Used as anticoagulant for blood samples
• In veterinary ophthalmology EDTA may be used as an anticollagenase to prevent the worsening of corneal ulcers in animals.
• Some laboratory studies also suggest that EDTA chelation may prevent collection of platelets ([or plaque] which can otherwise lead to formation of blood clots and prevent blood flow) on the walls of blood vessels [such as arteries]. These ideas are theoretical, however. [3]

In laboratory science, EDTA is also used for:

• Scavenging metal ions: in biochemistry and molecular biology, ion depletion is commonly used to inactivate metal-dependent enzymes which could damage DNA or proteins
• Complexometric titrations.
• Buffer solutions.
• Determination of water hardness.
• EDTA may be used as a masking agent to remove a metal ion which would interfere with the analysis of a second metal ion present
• An anticoagulant in medical and laboratory equipment.
• A preservative (usually to enhance the action of another preservative such as benzalkonium or thiomersal) in ocular preparations and eyedrops. See "les conservateurs en opthalmologie" Doctors Patrice Vo Tan & Yves lachkar, Librarie Médicale Théa.
• A titrant used to determine nickel concentration in an electroless nickel plating bath.
• In metallography to remove staining due to etchants. Metal oxides are removed by gently swabbing with EDTA and rinsing in water.