Mercurochrome, Merthiolate, and Thimerosal

Mercury Exposure and Public Health in the U.S.A

Nov 8, 2009

Governments need more help from their citizens in order to produce and enforce public policies to eliminate toxins from industrial and technological productivity.

In the 1950s, mercurochrome was in every household medicine cabinet. If there wasn’t a vial of mercurochrome, there was merthiolate. When a child fell and got a cut or scrape, out came the mercurochrome in a little bottle with a glass tube attached to the inside of the cap. The tube was dipped in the solution and used to paint the mercurochrome all over the surface of the wound. Then a bandaid, or gauze patch with some tape was placed over that to keep it clean. Everyone did this. There was no question. Children would scream and run if there was no mercurochrome or mertiolate in the house because that meant iodine would be used instead. And everyone knew that iodine stung - much worse than merthiolate.

Mercurochrome

Mercurochrome was not taken off the market in the United States until 1998, but hardly anyone noticed. Bactine had replaced those colorful liquid antisceptics by the mid 1960s. People born after 1980 may not ever have heard of mercurochrome or merthiolate (often pronounced mathiolade by children).

Bactine probably replaced the colorful antiseptics because it was clear. Bandaids were changing shapes and colors too. Mercurochrome may have faded from memory as a result of marketing and fashion more than any health reason, such as mercury poisoning. The scare of mercury poisoning in canned tuna didn’t begin until 1970.

Thimerosal and Merthiolate

The connection between thimerosal and vaccinations became a health issue in the 1990s. Thimerosal was added to vaccinations to aid in healing the needle puncture and prevent infection of the site. Thimerosal and merthiolate are interchangeable by definition.

Mercury poisoning was not an issue in the 1950s, when every parent was using mertiolate and mercurochrome. But awareness of changes in the environment had grown enough by 1998 to take mercurochrome off of the market. Thimerosal had been implicated as a possible cause of autism. Mercurochrome had been in every household, Now, as adults, these children of the 50s who dressed their wounds with mercury tincture, were worried that a mercury tincture could cause autism in their children.

But, the emphasis has been on the mercury that is in the mixture of the vaccination serum, rather than all of the other possible sources for mercury poisoning in our present environment. If mercury is the possible source of autism and other neurological and physiological disturbances, why aren’t these sources being looked at as well? Could it be that the other industries that could be implicated in mercury exposure are holding their breath? Mercury, after all, is a naturally occurring substance. But it is more prevalent in some of our largest industries, such as the processing of coal.

Mercury in the Environment

Mercury exposure is, and has been the subject of many public health studies, but the public has been slow to recognize that their own use of products and technology which increases mercury exposure is the source of the problem. It is another case of marketing and availability. Government studies have kept up to date, but organizations such as the World Health Organization , FDA and EPA have been relegated to the positions of public health educators, with little power to regulate the many toxic contaminants pervasively used in the technology of today. According to the EPA, global mercury emissions today range from 4,400 to 7,500 tons per year.

Regulation of Mercury Emissions

To many, “environmentalists” and “ecologists” are still the enemy of progress, and the cause of lost jobs in a failing economy. Because industrial toxins are a public health issue, they are also a political issue for countries which have some form of self-government. Governments have the ability to regulate the marketplace and industry. This does not have to mean a decline in jobs, or goods, but rather a restructuring and retooling of many businesses and practices. This can be an opportunity to remove many toxic substances from our daily lives, while providing jobs that use healthier materials and practices. Rather than a painful loss, this change can mean healthier jobs and a healthier environment.

Although a great stride was made when the Environmental Protection Agency announced that controls will be put on hazardous emissions, which include mercury from coal-fired power plants for the first time by November 2011, other recent mercury poisoning news involves the eating of seafood, again. Mercury contamination of the world’s oceans and streams did not disappear after the tuna scare in the 1970s, or the Clean Air Act, which was later revised during the Bush administration, or the EPA’s mercury study and report which was completed in 1997. Disillusioned citizens on both sides of the issue complain about the ineffectiveness of government, while governments worldwide are torn between employment and productivity versus the pollution of the earth’s oceans, rivers, streams, soil, and atmosphere.

Though awareness has increased, and many manufacturers and industries have removed mercury use from their formulae, there is still much to be improved. And there is much to clean up in the way of water treatment, and soil and atmospheric contamination. There is much work to do in public services. So far, the private sector has not found clean-up after production to be lucrative.

The copyright of the article Mercurochrome, Merthiolate, and Thimerosal in Public Healthcare Issues is owned by Yana Marshall. Permission to republish Mercurochrome, Merthiolate, and Thimerosal in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.