Published online February 1, 2008
PEDIATRICS Vol. 121 No. 2 February 2008, pp. e208-e214 (doi:10.1542/10.1542/peds.2006-3363)
This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Submit a response
Right arrow View responses
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me when eLetters are posted
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow E-mail this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My File Cabinet
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via CrossRef
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Pichichero, M. E.
Right arrow Articles by Treanor, J.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Pichichero, M. E.
Right arrow Articles by Treanor, J.
Related Collections
Right arrow Infectious Disease & Immunity
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us   Add to Digg   Add to Facebook   Add to Reddit   Add to Technorati   Add to Twitter  
What's this?

ARTICLE

Mercury Levels in Newborns and Infants After Receipt of Thimerosal-Containing Vaccines

Michael E. Pichichero, MDa, Angela Gentile, MDb, Norberto Giglio, MDb, Veronica Umido, MDb, Thomas Clarkson, PhDc, Elsa Cernichiari, MSc, Grazyna Zareba, PhDc, Carlos Gotelli, PhDd, Mariano Gotelli, PhDd, Lihan Yan, MSe and John Treanor, MDa

a Department of Microbiology/Immunology, Pediatrics, and Medicine, University of Rochester, Rochester, New York
b Department of Epidemiology, R. Gutierrez Children's Hospital, Buenos Aires, Argentina
c Department of Environmental Medicine, University of Rochester, Rochester, New York
d Center of Toxicology Research, Buenos Aires, Argentina
e EMMES Corp, Rockville, Maryland

OBJECTIVES. Thimerosal is a mercurial preservative that was widely used in multidose vaccine vials in the United States and Europe until 2001 and continues to be used in many countries throughout the world. We conducted a pharmacokinetic study to assess blood levels and elimination of ethyl mercury after vaccination of infants with thimerosal-containing vaccines.

METHODS. Blood, stool, and urine samples were obtained before vaccination and 12 hours to 30 days after vaccination from 216 healthy children: 72 newborns (group 1), 72 infants aged 2 months (group 2), and 72 infants aged 6 months (group 3). Total mercury levels were measured by atomic absorption. Blood mercury pharmacokinetics were calculated by pooling the data on the group and were based on a 1-compartment first-order pharmacokinetics model.

RESULTS. For groups 1, 2, and 3, respectively, (1) mean ± SD weights were 3.4 ± 0.4, 5.1 ± 0.6, and 7.7 ± 1.1 kg; (2) maximal mean ± SD blood mercury levels were 5.0 ± 1.3, 3.6 ± 1.5, and 2.8 ± 0.9 ng/mL occurring at 0.5 to 1 day after vaccination; (3) maximal mean ± SD stool mercury levels were 19.1 ± 11.8, 37.0 ± 27.4, and 44.3 ± 23.9 ng/g occurring on day 5 after vaccination for all groups; and (4) urine mercury levels were mostly nondetectable. The blood mercury half-life was calculated to be 3.7 days and returned to prevaccination levels by day 30.

CONCLUSIONS. The blood half-life of intramuscular ethyl mercury from thimerosal in vaccines in infants is substantially shorter than that of oral methyl mercury in adults. Increased mercury levels were detected in stools after vaccination, suggesting that the gastrointestinal tract is involved in ethyl mercury elimination. Because of the differing pharmacokinetics of ethyl and methyl mercury, exposure guidelines based on oral methyl mercury in adults may not be accurate for risk assessments in children who receive thimerosal-containing vaccines.

Key Words: thimerosal • vaccine • neurotoxicity • ethyl mercury

Abbreviations: Hib—Haemophilus influenzae type b • HBV—hepatitis B virus • CI—confidence interval • DTwP—diphtheria–tetanus–whole-cell pertussis • CVAFS—cold-vapor atomic fluorescence spectrophotometry • GGT—{gamma}-glutamyl transpeptidase

Accepted Jul 16, 2007.


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us   Add to Digg Digg   Add to Facebook Facebook   Add to Reddit Reddit   Add to Technorati Technorati   Add to Twitter Twitter    What's this?


This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 AAP Grand RoundsHome page
M. Dubik
Thimerosal Vaccines and Mercury Blood Levels
AAP Grand Rounds, May 1, 2008; 19(5): 52 - 53.
[Full Text] [PDF]

eLetters:

Read all eLetters

Invalidating Assumption
Dr. Robert Indech
Pediatrics Online, 30 Mar 2008 [Full text]