How long will the mercury from a flu shot stay in your body?

Answer 1

The minuscule amount of Mercury from the thimerosal preservative used in some doses of influenza vaccine (single dose vials of the vaccines for the 2009 A-H1N1/09 have no thimerosal in them), may leave traces present in your body for a week or two.

However, to put this in perspective, the amount of mercury from that compound in the flu vaccine when used, is approximately 24.5 mcg of mercury per dose of vaccine. This is well below what a single serving of fish in the diet might contain.

Fish that contain lower amounts of mercury include catfish. It has been determined that for the amount of mercury in catfish to pose any potential danger, these hypothetical health risks from the mercury in catfish would only begin at a weekly intake of 342.8 ounces (21.4 pounds) of the fish. This should put into perspective the insignificance of the mercury from a flu shot. Scientific studies have proven no connection between thimerosal and untoward health consequences from vaccine use.

Answer 2

None, or a microscopic amount too small to cause harm.

It is about the same amount of mercury as you would get in a single meal of fish.