Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Newly Appointed Vaccine Chair, Has A Dangerously Anti-Science View

President-elect Donald Trump made his previously vague stance on vaccines much clearer on Tuesday, when he invited vaccine skeptic Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to chair a panel on vaccine safety and scientific integrity.  Like many people who speak out against current vaccination practices, Kennedy says he’s fine with the concept of the shots but strongly opposes the use of thimerosal ― a preservative that hasn’t been used in childhood vaccines in the U.S. since 2001.  Kennedy’s position against a scary-sounding chemical compound may seem measured, considering he has acknowledged that vaccines have saved millions of lives around the world and has said he vaccinated all six of his children.  But he has also alleged that there’s a global corporate and governmental conspiracy to hide the supposed effects of thimerosal on young children, lobbied politicians to remove thimerosal from even more vaccines, edited a book about thimerosal’s supposed dangers and advocated for films that promote similar views.  In reality, the human body can easily break down thimerosal ― research shows that an infant’s body can expel it in about half a week ― in a process that produces a compound called ethylmercury. Ethylmercury is very different from methylmercury, a heavy metal and neurotoxin found in certain foods, including fish. We’re exposed to methylmercury throughout our lives, but the compound takes much...
Source: Science - The Huffington Post - Category: Science Source Type: news