Mercury is a ubiquitous environmental toxin. Exposure to all three of its forms, organic, inorganic, or elemental, can have adverse effects on the developing nervous system. Medical science has known of potentially grave effects of high dose mercury exposure since the late 19th century. Only recently, however, have questions arisen regarding possible associations between mercury exposure and autism.
The debate over mercury and autism escalated quickly because of thimerosal, a synthetic form of organic mercury used as a preservative and antimicrobial agent in vaccines. Thimerosal has been an ingredient in vaccines and biologicals since the 1930s but, with increases in recommended childhood immunization doses, by the 1990s it became possible for a six month old infant to have been exposed to a cumulative dose of organic mercury that exceeded certain limits set by government health agencies. This, paired with the immense growth in numbers of children diagnosed with autism in the 1990s prompted many in and out of the autism community to wonder if there could be a connection.
The body of evidence gathered through epidemiologic research to date does not support a causal relationship between thimerosal in childhood vaccines and autism risk. However, it is very difficult for even the best epidemiologic study to rule out the existence of small susceptible subgroups of children with autism in whom thimerosal exposure may have played a causal role. Since thimerosal-free versions of all childhood vaccines are commercially available and mercury is known to have adverse effects on the developing nervous system, Autism Speaks has chosen to endorse HR 881.
Several states have already passed legislation that limits the use of mercury-containing vaccines. These include: California, Delaware, Iowa, Missouri, New York, and Washington. Bills limiting the use of vaccines containing mercury have been introduced in the following states: Kansas, Nebraska and West Virginia.
Bill Summary Description:
The purpose of the Mercury Free Vaccines Act of 2007 is to amend the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to reduce human exposure to mercury through vaccines. The bill does this through six provisions:
1) Amends the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to deem a banned mercury-containing vaccine to be adulterated.
2) Amends the Public Health Service Act to provide that a vaccine is a banned mercury-containing vaccine if one dose of the vaccine contains one or more micrograms of mercury in any form.
3) Authorizes the Secretary of Health and Human Services to declare that an actual or potential bioterrorist incident or other public health emergency makes the administration of such vaccines advisable for a specified period.
4) Requires the Secretary to prohibit the distribution of banned mercury-containing influenza vaccines that are approved as biological products to: (1) any child under the age of three years old (effective July 1, 2007); (2) pregnant women if the vaccine contains thimerosal (effective July 1, 2007); and (3) any child under the age of six (effective July 1, 2008).
5) Requires the Secretary to revise the vaccine information included with mercury-containing vaccines to include: (1) a statement that indicates the presence of mercury in the vaccine; (2) information on the availability of any mercury-free or mercury-reduced alternative vaccine and instructions on how to obtain such an alternative vaccine; and (3) a recommendation against administration of any mercury-containing vaccine to a pregnant woman.
6) Expresses the sense of Congress that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) should disseminate, with any vaccine-related information, a recommendation against administration of any thimerosal-containing vaccine to a pregnant woman.
Many children with autism attend public schools and often have special needs that require specialized instruction. Autism Speaks believes that local school districts should not bear a disproportionate share of the costs of special education services.
There continues to be a Federal shortfall in funding the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. We are concerned that despite the original commitment of Congress to pay 40 percent of the extra cost of special education, a promise made when it passed IDEA three decades ago, the Fiscal 2007 appropriation of $10.8 billion for IDEA grants to states program, while significant, represents only 17.2 percent of the additional funding needed to support special education.
Bill Summary Description:
The purpose of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act is to provide free and appropriate public education to students with special needs. The Act was originally passed by Congress in 1975. While a commitment was made by Congress at this time to fund 40 percent of additional costs faced by states and school districts under this act, over the last 10 years Congress has never funded more than 19 percent. The IDEA Full Funding Act was introduced by Senator Chuck Hagel (NE) and Senator Tom Harkin (IA) on April 19, 2007. The bill seeks to fully-fund IDEA in seven years through mandatory annual phased-in spending increases, until federal funding reaches $30.8 billion in Fiscal Year 2015.
Read the full text of S. 1159
Read a copy of Autism Speaks' endorsement letter for S. 1159 to Senators Hagel and Harkin
With the increasing number of children diagnosed with autism, many communities across the country are in desperate need of more teaching professionals with experience working with children with autism spectrum disorders. This bill was introduced in May 2007 by Congressman Chris Smith (NJ), co-chairman of the Autism Caucus, and seeks to increase the number of teachers and paraprofessional teaching assistants with expertise in ASD by providing a refundable tax credit.
Bill summary description:
Read the text of H.R. 2390
Read a copy of Autism Speaks' endorsement letter for H.R. 2390 to Congressmen Smith and Doyle
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