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Some Recent StudiesSupporting

the Mercury Hypothesis

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MEET THE

MERCURY CAPTURERS

Thiol A class ofSULFUR-BASEDproteins that bind with heavy metals andeliminate them from the system.

Thiols include Glutathione, cysteine andmetallothioneine.

Synonym for thiol = mercaptan from theLatin mercurium captans: orliterally,mercury capturer.

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Dr. Jill James and team:

Discovered that ASD kids have low or depleted levels of thiols, includingglutathione a powerful antioxidant.

Low thiols levels are thought to be based on genes - and possible mercuryexposure (See: R. Deth).

Methionine metabolites (methionine, cysteine, glutathione) in 20 childrenwith autism compared vs. controls revealed severely abnormal profiles.

Targeted nutritional intervention for three weeks with Folinic acid, andBetaine (1000 mg. BID) resulted in significant improvement in methylationcapacity in children with autism.

Addition of methyl B-12 to cocktail brought all autistic children withinnormal levels of methionine, cysteine and glutathione

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Urine samples from 100s of French children yielded evidence for alink between autism and heavy metals.

Samples from ASD children had high levels ofporphyrins used toproduce ofhaem, the oxygen-carrying component in haemoglobin.

Heavy metals block haem, causing porphyrins to accumulate inurine.

Coproporphyrin was 2.6 times higher in autism cases than controls.

One author said it was Highly likely heavy metals are responsible forchildhood autism in a majority of cases.

TOXICOLOGY AND APPLIED PHARMACOLOGY - 15.3 (March, 2006)

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Asperger coprophyrin profiles

matched control cases, not autism

TOXICOLOGY AND APPLIED PHARMACOLOGY - 15.3 (March, 2006)

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Thimerosal and Immune CellsM.I.N.D. Institute March 26/06

Miniscule amounts (nanomolars) of thimerosal

can:

1) Kill immune (dendritic) cells

2) Cause cytokine imbalances

3) Induce inflammation.

THIMEROSAL CAN CAUSE

IMMUNE IMBALANCES

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Autism is ASSOCIATED WITHIMMUNE IMBALANCES

Presentation of MIND Institute

2005 International Meeting for Autism Research

Compared to typical children, those with ASD were

found to have:

Increased autoimmunity

Extremely elevated levels of certain immune

cells and cytokines

Imbalances in the TH1/TH2 immune response

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Thomas Bubacher and team at Univ. of Washington Primate Centercompared ethylmercury from thimerosal and methylmercury from fish.

Methyl Hg stayed in blood longer and crossed blood-brain barrier more.

Govt press release and media reported: Ethylmercury is less hazardous.

BUT - Ethyl in brain converts to inorganic mercury much faster than methyl.

2-4 times as much inorganic Hg found in brains of ethyl vs methyl group.

Over half the methyl-exposed brains had no detectable inorganic Hg.

Half-life in brain of organic Hg: 30 days; Half-life of inorganic Hg: 20 years

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HARVARD & JOHNS HOPKINS STUDIES

ON AUTISTIC BRAINS

HARVARD:

Neuro-inflammation found in autistic brain tissue from childhoodthrough adulthood.

Study suggests that chronic disease or an external environmentalsource (ie, heavy metals) may be cause.

JOHNS HOPKINS:

Inflammation found in autistic brains - apparently associated withactivation of brains immune system.

Compared with controls, autistic tissue showed ongoing inflammationin various sections of brain.

Inflammation was produced by activation of braincells known as microglia and astroglia.

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February 11, 2007

Study: Low toxicant levels damage brainResearchers: cells shut down when exposed to small amounts of mercury, lead

Micromolars of mercury and lead can damagedeveloping brain cells.

Glial progenitor stem cells simply shut down atmercury levels previously thought to be safe inhumans.

Progenitor stem cells are extraordinarilyvulnerable to low levels of toxins. Up to 25percent of the progenitor glial cells shut downwhen exposed to low levels of lead or mercury.

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SF: ASD kids more likely born in polluted areas

284 ASD children & 657 controls, born in 1994 in Bay Area.

Assigned exposure level by birth tract for 19 chemicals.

Risks for autism were elevated by 50% in tracts with the highestchlorinated solvents and heavy metals.

Highest risk compounds were mercury, cadmium, nickel,trichloroethylene, and vinyl chloride.

Risk from heavy metals was almost twice as high as solvents.

Our results suggest a potential association between autism andestimated metal concentrations, and possibly solvents, in ambientair around the birth residence.

ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH PERSPECTIVES Vol. 114 No. 9, September, 2006

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Study looked at Texas county levels of emissions, compared to ASDrates and special ed in 1,200 school districts.

Autism increased as mercury emissions rose. For every thousandpounds of Hg, there was a 61 percent increase in autism rates.

One county with low mercury emissions but significant autism rateswas found to harbor one of the nations largest mercury mines.

Author: A potentially important connection between environmentalexposure to mercury and the development of autism.

HEALTH & PLACE: 12 (2006) 203-209

TEXAS: HIGHER RISK OF AUTISM NEAR COAL-FIRED PLANTS