It is now some years since it was realised that mercury amalgam dental fillings cause health problems. Their use was ended so it is unexpected to find that mercury is still present in some medicines. The mumps, measles, rubella vaccine contains mercury as does the influenza vaccine, and the chloramphenicol eye drops used following cataract operations. Thus, some of the medication provided by the NHS for some of the most vulnerable people in their care contains a toxic and dangerous element, which forms insoluble compounds with iodine and selenium.

Some parts of the UK have a history of iodine deficiency but despite this the UK is one of the EEC countries in which iodised salt is not generally available. Selenium deficiency appears to have become endemic since the importation of high selenium Canadian wheat was ended about 20 years ago. Deficiencies of iodine and/or selenium have led to an increasing number of children being born to mothers who are themselves suffering from a marginal or a significant level of hypothyroidism. Congenital hypothyroidism caused by iodine deficiency during early pregnancy results in the birth of cretinous children who often exhibit myxedema. Autism may be the postnatal form of cretinism, induced by the shock of receiving a vaccination which contains mercury. A clear and authoritative statement needs to be issued to the effect that autism is or is not a symptom of mercury poisoning.

My personal experience has been that the primary symptoms of consuming a diet which fails to supply sufficient iodine and selenium are cold feet, indigestion and an increased susceptibility to air passage infections. For over a decade I have seldom suffered from these problems as long as I have taken 200 micrograms of selenium a day. Recently it has come to my notice that Nithsdale, the area in which I live, is a location in which goitre was once a significant problem. Turnips and cabbage contain goitrogens and the widespread consumption of these foods in the past may have been a factor in causing goitre. But it is possible to be iodine deficient without developing goitre, and locally a marginal deficiency of iodine may be caused by something present in the public water supply. In the Himalayas the presence of fluoride in mountain streams has been associated with the presence of goitre.

In Dumfries it has been noticeable that pensioners frequently have health problems after receiving the influenza vaccination in the autumn. It has to be a matter of conjecture as to whether these health problems are caused by the mercury in the vaccination combining with iodine or with selenium but, because these elements are poorly supplied in most diets, annual vaccinations to prevent influenza seem likely to maintain most pensioners in a permanent state of mild hypothyroidism. Concentrations of cholesterol, fatty acids and glucose in blood are increased by hypothyroidism.

The sensitivity of our bodies to mercury was brought home to me after I was prescribed an eye drop containing 0.002% W/V phenyl mercuric nitrate. After taking 4 drops a day for 2-3 weeks I began to experience indigestion and contracted a viral infection. These a typical symptoms of hypothyroidism but as my feet did not become cold they were induced by iodine deficiency and not by selenium deficiency. The indigestion was corrected by taking an iodine supplement.

Before the discovery of antibiotics iodine was commonly used as a bactericide and disinfectant. Farmers used to dip the teats of their cows into iodine so as to prevent them taking mastitis and some of this found its way into milk. Today seafood is the best source of both iodine and selenium but the availability of both is decreased if heavy metals are present.

The usual reason for adding mercury to medicines is that it acts as a preservative, but it is unclear why medicines which are supposed to be manufactured in sterile conditions need to have a preservative added. This is especially true of chloramphenicol and other antibiotics that by definition destroy bacteria and should not need to be reinforced by the addition of a notorious poison. 

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First Published in 2009

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