A Review of Thimerosal (Merthiolate) and its Ethylmercury Breakdown Product: Specific Historical Considerations Regarding Safety and Effectiveness

Abstract

Thimerosal (Merthiolate) is an ethylmercury-containing pharmaceutical compound that is 49.55% mercury and that was developed in 1927. Thimerosal has been marketed as an antimicrobial agent in a range of products, including topical antiseptic solutions and antiseptic ointments for treating cuts, nasal sprays, eye solutions, vaginal spermicides, diaper rash treatments, and perhaps most importantly as a preservative in vaccines and other injectable biological products, including Rho(D)-immune globulin preparations, despite evidence, dating to the early 1930s, indicating Thimerosal to be potentially hazardous to humans and ineffective as an antimicrobial agent. Despite this, Thimerosal was not scrutinized as part of U.S. pharmaceutical products until the 1980s, when the U.S. Food and Drug Administration finally recognized its demonstrated ineffectiveness and toxicity in topical pharmaceutical products, and began to eliminate it from these. Ironically, while Thimerosal was being eliminated from topicals, it was becoming more and more ubiquitous in the recommended immunization schedule for infants and pregnant women. Furthermore, Thimerosal continues to be administered, as part of mandated immunizations and other pharmaceutical products, in the United States and globally. The ubiquitous and largely unchecked place of Thimerosal in pharmaceuticals, therefore, represents a medical crisis.

High-Throughput Screening of a Collection of Known Pharmacologically Active Small Compounds for Identification of Candida albicans Biofilm Inhibitors

“…Thimerosal is an organomercury compound that is used as a common antiseptic. Mercury compounds induce cell death by rapid oxidation of sulfhydryl groups in proteins rendering vital enzymes inactive (31). Hexachlorophene is used as an antiseptic and leads to cell death by inhibiting fatty acid biosynthesis in bacteria (32).…”

Simultaneous determination of thimerosal and aluminum in vaccines and pharmaceuticals with the use of HPLC method

“…In our case, Al-DT complex with absorption maximum λ max = 557 ± 3 nm is forming in postcolumn derivatization where Al remains in fully soluble form. For comparison, λ max for DT alone is 478 nm [43], and in this paper, 480 ± 3 nm; for Hg(DT) 2 , complex is 490 nm [51]; for TM-DT, complex is 538 nm [43]. According to Shrivastaw and Singh [43], detection limit for DT-TM complex is 0.2 μg TM.…”

“…It was introduced to the market in 1920 [2] as antibacterial and antifungal agent and is still being used as an antiseptic and preservative in various formulations [3][4][5]. The degradation of thimerosal (TM) involves creation of ethylmercury cation (CH 3 CH 2 Hg + ) [6][7][8][9][10].…”

Theoretical aspects of autism: Causes—A review

“…Since the 1930s, Thimerosal has been extensively used as an antibacterial agent in vaccines (Geier et al, 2007). Thimerosal has been implicated as a cause of autism.…”