By: Boyd Haley, Ph.D, Professor and Chair - Department of Chemistry
University of Kentucky, Lexington, Kentucky

1. Studies on the birth hair mercury levels of normal children show that the major contributor to mercury in infant birth-hair is dental amalgams in the birth mother. Autistic children differ greatly from normal children in that they dramatically have less mercury in their birth-hair and more in their bodies. This identifies a subpopulation of children that cannot effectively excrete mercury from chronic low level exposures from dental amalgams and vaccines.

2. Reviewing the older literature data can be found that indicates the same situation exists for Alzheimer's Disease (AD). That is, AD subjects demonstrated elevated brain levels of mercury and lowered hair/nail levels of mercury. As the severity of the AD increased the level of mercury in the nail material decreased.

3. Previous research has shown that treating normal brain tissues with mercury inhibited the same enzymes/proteins known to be dramatically inhibited in AD versus normal control brain tissues. Mercury, and only mercury of the toxic metals could do this.

4. Other researchers have shown that treatment of neurons in culture with mercury generate the diagnostic hallmarks of AD.

5. Exposing rats to mercury vapor effects the aberrancies in important enzymes as observed in AD brain.

6. Thimerosal, the mercury containing preservative in vaccines, is more toxic to certain brain enzymes than is mercury chloride. It also is lethal to neurons in culture at nanomolar levels (very low concentrations.) The toxicity of thimerosal is greatly enhanced by testosterone (may explain the 4:1 ratio in this disease.), aluminum (found in many vaccines) and certain antibiotics. This strongly suggests that a "safe" level of thimerosal cannot be estimated by any reasonable approach at this time.