 Wall Street Journal reports "Weaker-than-Expected" Demand for Flu Shots
By Lyn Redwood, SafeMinds Executive Director
This past week the Wall Street Journal ran an article by Timothy Martin about drugstores and supermarkets slashing prices on flu vaccine this year amid "weaker-than-expected" demand. According to the article, Walgreen Co., the nation's largest pharmacy by store count had aimed to deliver 15 million flu shots this season, but to date had only administered 5.6 million. The drugstore giant is now working with the Department of Health and Human Services to donate 350,000 free flu shots to the "uninsured or financially strained' in 11 states and the District of Columbia. Earlier this month a retail analyst predicted that the slow demand could lower first-quarter profits for the company by four cents a share.
Many of you may remember that last year approximately 70 million doses of H1N1 vaccine had to be destroyed. In spite of the decline in interest in flu vaccination, this year 163 million doses were ordered, of which more than half contain the mercury-based preservative thimerosal. Flu vaccines that contain thimerosal must be disposed of as hazardous waste because they exceed EPA guidelines for the concentration of mercury that can be disposed of in a landfill by 250 times. View article here. See disposal guidelines for mercury containing vaccines here. The decision to donate unused vaccine and obtain a sizeable tax write off for the donation is financially sound when one considers the additional cost of destroying unused vaccine as a hazardous waste.
For over a decade, SafeMinds has urged consumers to request mercury-free vaccines. This flu season we developed public service announcements in an effort to educate health care consumers regarding the continued use of mercury in vaccines, which has aired in theaters throughout the country this holiday season. View public service announcement here. It is unconscionable that a flu vaccine containing mercury can be injected into a pregnant mother, infant or young child but that the same vaccine cannot be disposed of in a landfill. Please don't allow your body to be a hazardous waste disposal site.
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FDA Dental Products Update
On Tuesday, December 14th, the Dental Products committee of the FDA revisited the classification of mercury-containing dental amalgam at the urging of advocacy groups. Dawn Koplos and Jim Moody attended on behalf of SafeMinds. Dawn expressed frustration that, after a morning of testimony regarding amalgam saying "it's worse than we previously thought", the panel proceeded with a recommendation for further study for at risk populations rather than a ban on amalgam. "The whole problem is that we cannot identify all the susceptible populations in advance of amalgam placement," says Dawn. "The FDA should err on the side of caution."
Dawn reports the following study results were presented to the panel (among many others):
1. Mercury amalgams contribute to gingival cell death - Reichl, FX et al. 2006
2. Mercury amalgam inhibits mitochondrial function - Lin, CP et al. 2004, Keiser, K et al. 2000
3. Mercury fillings linked to hearing loss - Rothwell, JA and Boyd, PJ - 2008
For a news report with more detail, click here.
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Olin Plants to Eliminate Mercury
One of the handful of remaining US chlor-alkali plants that uses mercury-cell technology will be converted to non-mercury processing in 2012. The Olin plant in Charlestown, Tennessee was the largest mercury emitter in the state. A similar Olin plant in Augusta, Georgia will also stop using mercury for manufacturing in 2012. For more details, read here. |
 Consumer Reports Advises Pregnant Women to Avoid Canned Tuna
Its new study of mercury levels in canned fish has prompted Consumer Reports to update its advisory to pregnant women; the organization is now recommending that pregnant women avoid canned tuna altogether. Significant variation even within the same brand of tuna has raised concern about exposure levels. To read the article in part, click here. To read the New York Times article about the advisory, go here.
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EPA to Regulate Mercury Emissions from Gold Mining
The EPA has announced a standard for mercury air emissions from gold mines, the 7th largest source of mercury air emissions in the US. Eight of the 12 most-polluting mines are in Nevada. Mines will have 3 years to install pollution control equipment. For the whole story, click here.
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Recreational Anglers May Have Higher Than Normal Mercury Levels
In a study published recently, in Environmental Health Perspectives, researchers surveyed recreational fisherman in coastal Lousiana and found that 40% had higher hair mercury than the EPA's reference dose. The authors suggest that greater attention be paid to sub-populations that may have greater mercury exposure due to increased consumption of non-commerical fish. To read the whole study, click here.
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Mercury Spills in Schools - An Ongoing Problem
Mercury spill contamination continues to be a problem in those states that have not banned its use in school settings. A recent article summarizes a few examples - and the potentially enormous costs involved in clean-up. Read the article here.
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Mount Sinai Environmental/Autism Conference Videos
On December 8th, the Children's Environmental Health Center held an all day conference on Autism and the Environment. The videos of the individual presentations are available at this link for those who are interested: http://vimeo.com/channels/cehcautism
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 Global Autism Collaboration to Help Fund Wandering Study
The Global Autism Collaboration will provide partial funding for a study of wandering behavior in individuals with autism. The study will be done through the Interactive Autism Network (IAN). SafeMinds Executive Director, Lyn Redwood, is co-chairing the safety subcommittee of the IACC. SafeMinds, as a founding member of the GAC, is happy to support this important research.
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 Senator Dodd Introduces a Bill to Reauthorize the Combating Autism Act
The bill, known as the Combating Autism Reauthorization Act (CARA) will be reintroduced by Senator Menendez in the new congress in January as Senator Dodd is retiring. SafeMinds board members have been actively working with Senator Dodd's office as part of the Combating Autism Act Reauthorization Coalition (CAARC) but the bill, as introduced, falls significantly short of the CAARC's guiding principles. To read the analysis of the bill, please click here.
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