[golden]

Does anyone here have any information on the synthesis of Mercurochrome, Merbromin, Thimerasol, Merthiolate, etc.

[billnotgatez]

mercurochrome
merbromin
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercurochrome

thimerosal or thiomersal
merthiolate
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merthiolate

[limpet chicken]

I would add, be careful not to come into physical contact with either, but especially thiomersal, it is metabolised to ethylmercury.

I am pretty disgusted by the use of it as a preservative in the MMR vaccine, they inject that s#*$ into kids, and then wonder why they end up with developmental disorders, no bloody wonder

[constant thinker]

Quick question what does MMR stand for? I hope I didn't get that vaccine. O well I'm still "normal" I guess.

[limpet chicken]

Measles, mumps and rubella, the vaccine contains thiomersal, funny enough, I got it, and I have something called Asperger's syndrome, an autistic spectrum "disorder", although in my case, extremely mild.

Still a royal pain in the arse sometimes though, and TBH, I am fairly pissed with my parents for allowing the vaccination, with something that would introduce an organomercurial into me, especially at such a young age

[jdurg]

I would add, be careful not to come into physical contact with either, but especially thiomersal, it is metabolised to ethylmercury.

I am pretty disgusted by the use of it as a preservative in the MMR vaccine, they inject that s#*$ into kids, and then wonder why they end up with developmental disorders, no bloody wonder

The thing is, there has been NO CONCLUSIVE REPORT that links developmental disorders with thimerosal.  None.  Numerous health organizations from various countries around the world have performed extensive reports on the level of mercury exposure resulting from these vaccines, and none of the investigations have shown any link between thimerosal and problems.  (The Canadian government has done a great deal of testing on thimerosal and has found nothing.  Here's a link to one of their pages:  http://www.phac-aspc.gc.ca/dird-dimr/pdf/thimerosal_e.pdf).

http://www.chop.edu/consumer/jsp/division/generic.jsp?id=75807

http://www.timetoteach.co.uk/AutismandADHDLinkedtoVaccines.html  I had to post this final link because any good argument must recognize the other side.  However, this particular 'study' is a big crock of s#*$.  The study the author is citing looked into levels of METHYL Mercury and how it affects people.  The problem is, thimerosal doesn't degrade into methyl mercury.  It is metabolized into ethyl mercury.  The difference between the methyl and ethyl groups are HUGE.  Formic acid is poisonous.  Ethanoic Acid is vinegar.  Formaldehye will kill you.  Ethylaldehyde will just make you feel bad.  Methanol will kill you.  Ethanol will make you drunk.  So the biological differences between methyl and ethyl groups are huge.  Typically speaking, methyl derivatives of compounds are much more troubling than ethyl derivatives.  There's a reason people take methamphetamine and not ethamphetamine.  So a study that says 'thimerosal is horrible for you because methyl mercury is bad' is akin to saying 'skiing is bad for you because a gunshot wound to the face is bad'.

In addition, further studies have found that the half-life of ethylmercury in the blood is MUCH shorter than the halflife of methylmercury in the blood.  This means that the human body is able to get rid of ethylmercury, much, much quicker.  In fact, fecal samples of infants exposed to Thimerosal have shown that nearly all of their exposure to the vaccine containing thimerosal has been eliminated in their poop within a very short time period.  

So why has the use of thimerosal been reduced in vaccines?  Simply because the public hears 'mercury' and begins to panic and blame every single problem they've ever had on mercury.  I myself see nothing wrong with the decision to reduce the number of thimerosal containing vaccines since there really has been no 100% conclusive proof on either side.  Still, the lack of any solid link between thimerosal containing vaccines and developmental problems does seem to say something.

As for the mercury exposure you would receive from a thimerosal containing vaccine, you would get a higher exposure from eating a tuna-fish sandwich; smoking a few cigarettes, or driving through a smoggy city.  So to blame any problems on purely a vaccine in which the mercury content has not been proven to affect anything is kind of fishy.  

Just to put things in perspective, Arsenic is a VERY toxic element and I think just about all arsenic compounds are highly toxic.  The thing is, if one is exposed to very small amount of arsenic, it will actually cause their metabolism to increase and the number of red-blood cells they have to increase as well.  So if one started taking in arsenic, they'd boost their metabolism and increase their endurance.  The problem is that the amount of As you need to get the benefits is frighteningly close to the amount you need to drop dead, so purposefully taking in arsenic is a really bad idea.

Now I will admit that I used to look at mercury has a horrible, horrible thing and any exposure at all is horrifically bad.  Then I went and did some research on the stuff and found out that it's not nearly as toxic as one may believe.  Toxic effects are seen on a long term, chronic exposure of through a very massive short term exposure.  I'm sure everyone is familiar with the story about the Dartmouth() professor who was exposed to an organic mercury compound and passed away due to the exposure.  The thing is, that professor worked with organic Hg compounds for years so one would have to expect her exposure to mercury to have gone on for a good long while.  As a result, even though the levels of mercury in the blood prior to the fatal enounter may not have been that high, the chronic exposure had weakened her body's ability to fight off any subsequent exposure.

In the case of vaccines, your exposure to the mercury in the vaccine is a short term, small exposure.  It could possibly be dangerous if the person who received the vaccine then spent a good deal of his/her life around mercury.  If that was the case, however, then the person should be incredibly pissed at the other things which led to their exposure and NOT the vaccine itself.  (I.E. if their parents smoked cigarettes around them, or fed them shellfish with high Hg levels in it, etc. etc.).

If you get a vaccine, the biggest problem faced is an allergy to eggs or egg products.  Still, the benefits of a vaccine faaaaaaaaaaaar outweigh any possible side effects.

[limpet chicken]

Yeah, I have read about the "arsenic eater" people, can't remember th name of the ethnic group, still,  a few die in the attempt.

I know there is the massive difference between the two functional groups, I am of the general school of thought, that WHY the f&#$ would someone introduce ANY organomercurial to babies/todders, especially those of young age, it may or may not do harm I know the studies aren't conclusive, but there is really no reason to take that risk in the first place.

I mean, there is no denying that any alkylmercuries, are particularly pleasant compounds, so why take the chance, I believe if there is the mere hint of doubt, seeing as specific mercury compounds, while *perhaps* not much of a danger, in the situation, there are modern preservatives that don't contain mercury at all, so why use the ones that do?

Jdurg, funny enough, I actually do prefer n-ethylamphetamine to methamphetamine, the ride is far smoother, less tendency to induce psychosis in users, and I actually think it smokes nicer too

[jdurg]

A good deal of it could have to do with the cost/effectiveness ratio.  The thimerosal has proven to be a VERY effective preservative while at a more affordable cost.  For people who don't have a good deal of money, having the vaccine at a lower cost is very crucial to them.  It is a touchy issue, however, simply because it is a known toxic compound and not everybody is as informed as all of us here are.  In addition, the causes of many developmental disorders are not known so anytime you have an unknown cause, people will try and attach everything to it.

For the methyl/ethyl thing, when you think about it the ethyl group really plays a big role in our biology.  I mean, things like acetic acid, ethanol, and various other ethyl derivatives tend to be much less toxic and much less dangerous than their methyl counterparts.  Makes me wonder, if it is possible (Can't recall the structure off the top of my head nor do I feel like looking it up) to make lysergic acid di-methylamide as opposed to the ethyl version.  In this case, since the amide is the terminal group I don't think it would make too much of a difference.  If it did, I wouldn't want to know the results.  

[constant thinker]

Thanks jdurg. I feel a little more at ease. I think all the frequent visitors of this forum are familiar with the Dartmouth professor. That was a fairly enlightning topic.

Limpet Chicken, I get a kick out of you at times. The drug users I know (not full  blown addicts just casual users) are stupid and just follow what the big thing is. You though, your a very well versed drug user. Also you seam to have been around the block so to say in your drug expierences.

[golden]

Today, I received (ebay purchase) 2 0.5g vials of Mercurochrome crystals, hermetically sealed from the 1950's. No plan on opening them though

[limpet chicken]

Golden, would there be any chance of a pic of the mercurochrome vial? I would lov to see it out of interest (got a pic of a vial of liquid fluorine if your interested lol)


Constant thinker, pharmacology is one of my main interests, and I really, truly, believe my intellectual development has been aided by psilocybin mushrooms, I used to be severely autistic, then picked and eat some liberty caps at a young age, weeks later, I began to become less and less severe, and now able to function and even much enjoy even social (drug ridden) parties

I have a great interest in psychoactive drugs, both recreational use, use for spiritual self development, and as a studyable pharmacological viewpoint, and yes, through growing such plants, and bioassaying such synthetics, I have indeed "been around" (with the emphasis on "BEE"

[Borek]

http://www.answers.com/mercurochrome&r=67

Bottle as any other.

[golden]

http://www.answers.com/mercurochrome&r=67

Bottle as any other.

When Mercurochrome is being prepared as an antiseptic, the Mercurochrome crystals are added to water. They look like Iodine Crystals, just they have a pinch of red and when light hits them, they shine green.

[golden]

Picture One

[golden]

Picture Two

I'll scan up what the words say, and a close up of the vials. Originally i thought they were liquid.