Sorry, but mercury is only poisonous if inhaled as a vapor.
If ingested or injected mercury were poisonous everyone who ever got a common mercury/silver amalgam tooth filling would be stricken, and mercury as a preservative has been present in vaccines for 100 years, so it cannot suddenly be responsible for an increase in autism.
Autism involves a sudden growth spurt in the brain, beyond that of normal children. There is no indication that that can be caused by mercury.
Modern man only appeared about 20,000 years ago. There is no evidence that we have stopped evolving. Autism may be an unfortunate result of some of the mutations that are still occurring as our intelligence increases.
So9
"Sorry, but mercury is only poisonous if inhaled as a vapor. If ingested or injected mercury were poisonous everyone who ever got a common mercury/silver amalgam tooth filling would be stricken, and mercury as a preservative has been present in vaccines for 100 years, so it cannot suddenly be responsible for an increase in autism."
No need to apologize. This is a very confusing topic and there is not a lot of information out there. Thimerosal has only been around since the 30's. You are correct in saying that it has always been used in vaccines. But what you may not realize is that the amount of ethlymercury received by children through Thimerosal-containing vaccines increased 246% between 1986 and 1991. Additionally, children were given vaccines at birth (because there is a good chance of a newborn doing drugs or having unprotected sex that would cause them to acquire HEPB - that was sarcasm).
Your statement regarding mercury only being dangerous if inhaled is simply not true. Please reference my initial post and view some of the studies I mention. You will see what I mean. Do you recall "Mad Hatters" or "Pink Disease"? These are mercury poisonings and we know this today. I'm quite certain they were not inhaled mercury.
And there is a growing body of evidence about the dangers of amalgam fillings which I won't get into now.
I was also told, by a woman who had two autistic children, that autism is much more common among engineer type fathers. When both parents are math types, the percentages rise even higher.
"Sorry, but mercury is only poisonous if inhaled as a vapor."
Soluble mercury compounds, such as mercuric chloride, are extremely poisonous; a gram of mercuric chloride will kill a man in 24 hours. It causes precipitation of proteins in the kidneys.
You are correct that mercury in metallic (liquid) form is less toxic; a gram swallowed will not kill you (altho a little is converted to the chloride by the stomach acids).
Inhaled mercury is devious, because it lodges in the lungs and the body has no natural mechanism to remove it. Over time, bit by bit it is converted to organo-mercury compounds that induce neuorological and other disorders. You are correct about the hatters, who used mercury as a "blocking agent" to make the felt of hats stiffer.
Organo-mercury compounds found concentrated in some fish species are a notable health risk, widely recognized.
So as long as I don't smell the fish I eat, like tuna - purportedly one of the highest in mercury toxicity - there's no problem with eating it (/sarc)
Excuse me, but I was taught that evolution takes thousands to millions of years to do its work. The precipitous rise in cases of autism, HFA, asperger's syndrome, ADHD et al since the 1930s simply cannot be explained away as a byproduct of evolution. Yes, the human race is constantly evolving, but to postulate that genetic mutations are occurring at a faster rate now than before WW1 also requires that you accept the fact that something must be causing these mutations.
ASDs have risen by 10,000 percent since 1948. Not only that, there are noticeable plateaus and spikes, roughly corresponding with the introduction of new childhood vaccinations. And nearly all of these new shots have used thimerosal-based preservatives, including many manufactured after 1999.
Mercury in any form is one of the most potent neurotoxic elements known to man, and has been known as such for hundreds of years. It's only now that we are pretending otherwise. There is no safe level of mercury. Why are so many people spending so much time defending something so dangerous? By this logic, we should start using lead-based paint and lead pipes again. Oh, that's right; there's a proven connection between lead and neurological damage. And, of course, there's no wealthy corporation making millions of government dollars manufacturing what amounts to a slow-acting nerve agent to inject into our kids.