That doesn't explain the unvaccinated autistic child of my friends, and thus it also does not explain her vaccinated autistic brother.
From the CDC:
Mercury and Vaccines (Thimerosal)
Thimerosal is a mercury-containing preservative used in some vaccines and other products since the 1930s.
There is no convincing scientific evidence of harm caused by the low doses of thimerosal in vaccines, except for minor reactions like redness and swelling at the injection site.
However, in July 1999, the Public Health Service agencies, the American Academy of Pediatrics, and vaccine manufacturers agreed that thimerosal should be reduced or eliminated in vaccines as a precautionary measure.
Since 2001, with the exception of some influenza (flu) vaccines, thimerosal is not used as a preservative in routinely recommended childhood vaccines.
CDC Statement on Autism and Thimerosal
As the country's leading public health agency, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is committed to protecting the health of all Americansincluding infants, children, and adolescents.
CDC shares with parents and many others great concern about the number of children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). We are committed to understanding what causes autism, how it can be prevented, and how it can be recognized and treated as early as possible.
Recent estimates from CDC's Autism and Developmental Disabilities Monitoring network found that about 1 in 150 children have an ASD. This estimate is higher than estimates from the early 1990s.
Some people believe increased exposure to thimerosal (from the addition of important new vaccines recommended for children) explains the higher prevalence in recent years.
However, evidence from several studies examining trends in vaccine use and changes in autism frequency does not support such an association.
Furthermore, a scientific review by the Institute of Medicine (IOM) concluded that "the evidence favors rejection of a causal relationship between thimerosal-containing vaccines and autism."
CDC supports the IOM conclusion.
CDC recognizes that autism is an urgent health concern and supports comprehensive research as our best hope for understanding the causes of autism and other developmental disorders. Through collaborations with partners in government, research centers, and the public, CDC is focusing on three areas
1. Understanding the frequency and trends of autism spectrum disorders.
2. Advancing research in the search for causes and effective treatments.
3. Improving early detection and diagnosis so affected children are treated as soon as possible.
Centers for Disease Control Thimerosal
See #18...
I have researched this...
Yeah, yeah, blah, blah, blah...gubmint science. Here’s an expert!
Jenny McCarthy: If you look at the vaccine schedule, and you can go on www.generationrescue.com and thats a really good website the vaccines that you received in 1983 were ten. Today theyre thirty-six. Thirty-six vaccinations compared to ten back in the day. A lot of these kids seem to be born with a little bit of an auto-immune problem. Maybe they cant really detox some of the toxins in the environment as easily. For instance, one of the things is glutathione. Glutathione is everyones bodies natural anti-oxidant that gets rid of toxins and viruses and stuff like that. Weve noticed that a lot of these kids have low glutathione. So we say, God, if these kids are born with low glutathione, a lower immune system, then how are they supposed to now take thirty-six vaccines when we never had that before? So its real easy when you look at that list of what it was like, and what its like now, to go, Ah! I see the escalation of vaccines and I see the escalation of autism, and thats how we got there.
If Mercury based preservatives are not dangerous then why is it banned in many of the industrialized nations except of course the United States. Why is it that Dick Armey a man in the pocket of the pharma industry puts a rider in in the 2002 Homeland security act to protect the industry from lawsuits from thimerosal?
If you accept the party line from the goverment who passes laws to protect industry at the expense of its citizens, then you really are very naive.