Mercury in vaccines from the Australian childhood immunization program schedule Austin, David W., Shandley, Kerrie and Palombo, Enzo A. 2010, Mercury in vaccines from the Australian childhood immunization program schedule, Journal of toxicology and environmental health. Part A, vol. 73, no. 10, pp. 637-640, doi: 10.1080/15287391003613994. Attached Files Name Description MIMEType Size Downloads Title Mercury in vaccines from the Australian childhood immunization program schedule Author(s) Austin, David W. orcid.org/0000-0002-1296-3555 Shandley, Kerrie Palombo, Enzo A. Journal name Journal of toxicology and environmental health. Part A Volume number 73 Issue number 10 Start page 637 End page 640 Total pages 4 Publisher Taylor & Francis Place of publication London, England Publication date 2010 ISSN 1528-7394 1087-2620 Summary Despite the removal of the mercury (Hg)-based preservative thimerosal from vaccines listed on the Australian Immunization Program Schedule for children, concerns remain among some researchers and parents for the safety of the present schedule, in part due to a fear of residual trace levels of Hg. The purpose of this study was to independently assess childhood vaccines for the presence of Hg. Eight vaccines administered to children under the age of 5 yr were assessed for Hg content via a DMA-80 direct mercury analyzer. Seven of the 8 vaccines contained no detectable levels of Hg (less than 1 ppb); however, 1 vaccine (Infanrix hexa) tested positive for Hg at 10 ppb. The result was confirmed and validated by retesting the original sample. Follow-up testing was conducted on three additional samples of Infanrix hexa (one from the same production lot and two from a different lot). All three tested positive for Hg (average of 9.7 ppb). Although the levels of Hg detected are substantially lower than any established exposure safety limits, the results of this study reveal that inaccuracies exist in public health messages, professional communications, and official documentation regarding Hg content in at least one childhood vaccine. In the interests of public health, it is incumbent on vaccine manufacturers and responsible agencies such as the Therapeutic Goods Administration and the Federal Department of Health and Ageing to address this issue as a matter of urgency. Language eng DOI 10.1080/15287391003613994 Field of Research 179999 Psychology and Cognitive Sciences not elsewhere classified Socio Economic Objective 970117 Expanding Knowledge in Psychology and Cognitive Sciences HERDC Research category C1.1 Refereed article in a scholarly journal Copyright notice ©2010, Taylor & Francis Persistent URL http://hdl.handle.net/10536/DRO/DU:30052207 Document type: Journal Article Collections: Faculty of Health School of Psychology Related Links Link Description Connect to published version (restricted access) Go to link with your DU access privileges     Unless expressly stated otherwise, the copyright for items in DRO is owned by the author, with all rights reserved. Versions Version Filter Type Wed, 01 May 2013, 14:07:57 EST Wed, 01 May 2013, 15:26:23 EST Fri, 10 May 2013, 14:46:58 EST Wed, 05 Feb 2014, 11:38:17 EST Fri, 09 May 2014, 14:27:36 EST Thu, 11 Dec 2014, 18:38:46 EST Wed, 07 Jan 2015, 14:07:15 EST Wed, 17 Aug 2016, 08:34:33 EST Tue, 06 Sep 2016, 20:59:54 EST Filtered Full Citation counts:   Cited 3 times in TR Web of Science Cited 3 times in Scopus Search Google Scholar Access Statistics: 906 Abstract Views, 138 File Downloads  -  Detailed Statistics Created: Wed, 01 May 2013, 14:07:57 EST

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