The food processing world is reeling right now one day after a shocking new series of tests released by Consumer Reports revealed that many leading brands of canned foods contain Bisphenol A (BPA)—a toxic chemical linked to health risks including reproductive abnormalities, neurological effects, heightened risk of breast and prostate cancers, diabetes, heart disease and other serious health problems.

BPA is used in the lining of cans and the toxin leaches from the lining into the food. According to Consumer Reports just a couple of servings of canned food can exceed scientific limits on daily exposure for children.

The federal government is currently studying the dangers of BPA and advocates are calling on the FDA to ban the use of BPA in food and beverage packaging by the end of the year. Companies in other industries, including Wal-Mart, Target, Nalgene, and Babies R Us have already made commitments to stop using BPA.

Sources:

Change.org November 4, 2009

ConsumerReports.org December 2009

Food Politics November 3, 2009

Consumer Reports’ tested 19 name-brand canned foods, including:

• Soups
• Juice
• Tuna
• Green beans

The results were discouraging. Nearly all of the tested canned foods were contaminated with the endocrine disrupting chemical bisphenol-A (BPA), and this included organic canned foods as well. BPA was even found in some cans labeled “BPA-free”!

According to their estimates, just a couple of servings of canned food can exceed the safety limits for daily BPA exposure for children.

The current US federal guidelines put the daily upper limit of safe exposure at 50 micrograms of BPA per kilogram of body weight.

However, this limit is based on studies from the 1980s, and does not take into account the findings of more recent animal and laboratory studies, which have found that far lower doses of BPA may still pose serious health risks.

The Worst Offenders

According to Consumer Reports’ testing, the levels of BPA can vary greatly from one can to another, which makes sense when you consider that the BPA leeches from the lining, and a variety of factors, such as heat, can influence the rate of leeching.

In general, canned green beans and canned soups had some of the highest BPA levels of the foods tested. The worst offenders during their tests included:

• Del Monte Fresh Cut Green Beans had BPA levels ranging from 35.9 ppb to as much as 191 ppb
• Progresso Vegetable Soup had BPA levels ranging from 67 to 134 ppb
• Campbell’s Condensed Chicken Noodle Soup had BPA levels ranging from 54.5 to 102 ppb

BPA and Your Immune System

That low-level exposure to BPA can be hazardous to your health has been established (but hotly debated and denied by industry) for over 10 years. According to Washington State University reproductive scientist Patricia Hunt,

“Exposure to low levels of BPA — levels that we think are in the realm of current human exposure — can profoundly affect both developing eggs and sperm.”

But fetuses and infants are not the only ones at risk. Researchers are also finding that BPA exposure can affect adults.

There are more than 100 independent studies linking the chemical to serious disorders in humans, including:

• Prostate cancer
• Breast cancer
• Diabetes
• Early puberty
• Obesity, and
• Learning and behavioral problems

As an example, a study published in the Environmental Health Perspectives last year, found that BPA promotes the development of Th2 cells in adulthood, and both Th1 and Th2 cells in prenatal stages, by reducing the number of regulatory T cells.

This could have a profound effect on your health as Th1 and Th2 are the two “attack modes” of your immune system.

Based on the type of invader, your immune system activates either Th1 or Th2 cells to get rid of the pathogen. Th1 (T Helper 1) attacks organisms that get inside your cells, whereas Th2 (T Helper 2) goes after extracellular pathogens; organisms that are found outside the cells in your blood and other body fluids.

When your Th2 are over-activated, your immune system will over-respond to toxins, allergens, normal bacteria and parasites, and under-respond to viruses, yeast, cancer, and intracellular bacteria, because as one system activates, the other is blocked.

More here

Summary#
47553

Topic:
Iodine Supplementation May Improve Cognition In Mildly Iodine-Deficient Children

Keywords:
COGNITION – Iodine

Reference:
“Iodine supplementation improves cognition in mildly iodine-deficient children,” Gordon RC, Ruffman T, et al, Am J Clin Nutr, 2009; 90(5): 1264-71. (Address: Department of Human Nutrition, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand).

Summary:
In a randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind study involving 184 mildly iodine-deficient children, aged 10-13 years old, results indicate that iodine supplementation may improve cognition. The children were randomized to receive a daily tablet containing either 150 microg iodine or placebo for 28 weeks. Cognitive performance was evaluated at intervention end. Children in the iodine group showed significant improved scores in picture concepts and matrix reasoning, compared with children in the placebo group. Thus, the authors of this study conclude, “Iodine supplementation improved perceptual reasoning in mildly iodine-deficient children and suggests that mild iodine deficiency could prevent children from attaining their full intellectual potential.”

Not long ago, SIGG announced that their aluminum water bottles, which many people purchased to avoid the BPA found in plastic bottles, actually contained BPA. Now it has come out that Gaiam’s aluminum water bottles — the ones that were previously labeled “BPA-free” — actually leach BPA at 20 times the levels that SIGG bottles did.

After being called out on the web on the BPA status of their “BPA-free” water bottles, Gaiam has quietly posted on its retail website data from independent lab test results that show BPA leaching levels at 23.8 parts per billion.

These findings are more than 10 times the detection limit that SIGG provided in its own water bottle testing, and over 18 times more than the leaching levels found in independent studies of SIGG water bottles.

Sources:

Mother Nature Network

Dr. Mercola’s Comments:

I’m sure you’ve heard a lot about Bisphenol-A, or BPA, if you’ve paid attention during the past year. It’s been getting a lot of press for good reason.

BPA is an estrogen-mimicking chemical, invented nearly 120 years ago, that is used to make hard plastics and epoxy resins. It can be found in numerous products that most people use on a daily basis, including baby bottles, canned foods, water bottles, and microwaveable plastic dishes and containers.

The Environmental Working Group has published an interesting review of BPA, showing the timeline of BPA’s use over the years. It offers a glimpse of the reality behind nearly all chemical dangers, showing just how long it can take to get something dangerous off the market, despite the evidence of harm.

Industry uses more than 6 billion pounds of BPA a year. As a result, scientists have found that 95 percent of people tested have dangerous levels of BPA in their bodies.

This is one valid reason why you should not tolerate the suggestion that “trace amounts” of toxins are okay.

The cumulative effect of being exposed to minuscule amounts of BPA from cans, bottles, plates and all other sources over the years can eventually spell serious trouble for your health.
The biggest victims are likely to be children, who may be exposed to the chemical from the time they’re in utero, and onward, throughout their entire lives.

Why You Need to Pay Attention to BPA

In the last ten years, some 700 studies have been published about BPA — most of them indicating serious health hazards, at least in animals. The most troubling problem with BPA is that it mimics the female hormone estrogen.

Your body is extremely sensitive to sex hormones, and miniscule amounts can induce profound changes. Therefore, scientists are afraid even low levels of BPA could have a negative impact on human health.

In animals, BPA increases aneuploidy, a defect consisting of abnormal loss or gain of chromosomes, which in humans could possibly lead to miscarriages or disorders such as Down Syndrome.

Moreover, there is evidence (among mice and rats) that even low doses of BPA can cause:

1. Hyperactivity

2. Early Puberty

3. Increased fat formation

4. Abnormal sexual behavior

5. Disrupted reproductive cycles

6. Structural damage to your brain

In September 2008 the National Toxicology Program of NIH determined that BPA may pose risks to human development, raising concerns for early puberty, prostate effects, breast cancer, and behavioral impacts from early-life exposures, all of which you can read about in the NIH publication No. 08-5994.

It also shows that nearly all of the exposure is through the food supply, which emphasizes the importance of avoiding BPA-laced food and beverage containers of all kinds as this is how your food becomes contaminated.

It’s difficult to understand why U.S. health and environmental regulators keep insisting there is “no evidence of harm to human health after 50 years of use,” when this list contains some of the most wide spread health issues that have dramatically increased in that same time frame.

Lawmakers are Slow to Protect the Public

There has been some success in limiting the use of BPA. In May of this year, Minnesota legislature passed a statewide ban on the sale of baby bottles, sippy cups, and other children’s food containers made with BPA. Other states, including California, Connecticut, Michigan and New York, are considering similar legislation.

Some retailers have also made the wise decision to respond to consumer demand and have voluntarily eliminated some of their BPA products for sale.

It’s a good start, but clearly not enough. Hopefully, Congress will come through with their proposed legislation intended to establish a federal ban on BPA in all food and beverage containers.

Until then, it may be prudent to remain wary of companies who claim to be completely safe, while hiding the fact that their metal water bottles still contain trace elements of BPA in the lining.

Better yet, quit trying to figure out who’s honest and who’s not, and go for food and beverage containers you KNOW does not contain BPA — namely GLASS.
That way you can circumvent the entire problem with BPA, which is that it doesn’t remain stable or inert in the plastic.

BPA leeches into whatever food or beverage you put in a plastic container, canned good, or plastic baby bottle. And if you microwave the containers or bottles, or place hot liquids or food into them, BPA is released 55 times more rapidly!

With glass you simply will not have this problem and can finally put your mind at rest.

Also keep in mind that your body IS capable of detoxing and cleaning out at least some of the toxins you’re exposed to on a daily basis as long as you maintain a healthy lifestyle and take measures to limit your exposure to toxins.

Do You Know What the Recycling Symbols Mean?

If you absolutely can’t do away with your plastic containers, at least check the recycling label on the bottom of the container and opt for “the lesser evil.”

Avoid containers with recycling label No. 7, as these varieties usually contain BPA.

No. 3 (DEHA) and No. 6 (Styrene) are also considered unsuitable for use with food due to their toxic ingredients.

Containers marked with the recycling labels No. 1, No. 2, No. 4, and No. 5 do not contain BPA, but they do contain other unsavory chemicals that are best avoided. Still, if you’re determined to stick with plastic, these four are considered to be better than the others.

The Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy’s Smart Plastics Guide offers more detailed descriptions of the most commonly occurring chemicals in plastic products.

The website Mother Jones also offers a handy chart that you can cut out and stick on your refrigerator.

10 Tips to Reduce Your Exposure to BPA

• Only use glass baby bottles and dishes for your baby
• Give your baby natural fabric toys instead of plastic ones
• Store your food and beverages in glass — NOT plastic — containers
• IF you choose to use a microwave, don’t microwave food in a plastic container
• Stop buying and consuming canned foods and drinks
• Avoid using plastic wrap (and never microwave anything covered in it)
• Get rid of your plastic dishes and cups, and replace them with glass varieties
• If you opt to use plastic kitchenware, at least get rid of the older, scratched-up varieties, avoid putting them in the dishwasher, and don’t wash them with harsh detergents, as these things can cause more chemicals to leach into your food
• Avoid using bottled water; filter your own using a reverse osmosis filter instead
• Before allowing a dental sealant to be applied to you, or your children’s, teeth, ask your dentist to verify that it does not contain BPA

Where to Find BPA-Free Products

Just like some retailers are ditching hazardous products, some are also increasingly marketing products that are BPA-free. Here’s an assortment of sources that carry BPA-free products:

• SafeMama.com offers a quick reference list of BPA-free sippy cups and other food storage items
• They also have a cheat sheet of BPA, PVC and phthalate-free pacifiers and teething rings
• TheSoftLanding.com offers glass baby bottles wrapped in silicone to prevent breakage, as well as an assortment of other BPA-free children’s products
• The Z Recommends blog also has a guide that lists children‘s feeding products that don‘t contain BPA
• Amazon.com‘s BPA-free section lists water bottles, baby bottles, and sippy cups.
• Rubbermaid has an assortment of containers that do not contain BPA.
• Nalgene now offers BPA-free water bottles.
• Brita, which makes water filtration products, says that its pitchers and filters don‘t contain BPA.
• SC Johnson, which makes Saran brand wraps and Ziploc bags and containers, says that it doesn‘t use BPA in its products.

Found Here

There is a lot more to this article before and after what I have posted here.  Be sure to checkout the whole thing at the link.

*SNIP*

Marketing The Perfect Food
“Just imagine you could grow the perfect food. This food not only would provide affordable nutrition, but also would be delicious and easy to prepare in a variety of ways. It would be a healthful food, with no saturated fat. In fact, you would be growing a virtual fountain of youth on your back forty.” The author is Dean Houghton, writing for The Furrow, (2) a magazine published in 12 languages by John Deere. “This ideal food would help prevent, and perhaps reverse, some of the world’s most dreaded diseases. You could grow this miracle crop in a variety of soils and climates. Its cultivation would build up, not deplete, the land…this miracle food already exists… It’s called soy.”

Just imagine. Farmers have been imagining – and planting more soy. What was once a minor crop, listed in the 1913 US Department of Agriculture (USDA) handbook not as a food but as an industrial product, now covers 72 million acres of American farmland. Much of this harvest will be used to feed chickens, turkeys, pigs, cows and salmon. Another large fraction will be squeezed to produce oil for margarine, shortenings and salad dressings.

Advances in technology make it possible to produce isolated soy protein from what was once considered a waste product – the defatted, high-protein soy chips – and then transform something that looks and smells terrible into products that can be consumed by human beings. Flavorings, preservatives, sweeteners, emulsifiers and synthetic nutrients have turned soy protein isolate, the food processors’ ugly duckling, into a New Age Cinderella.

The new fairy-tale food has been marketed not so much for her beauty but for her virtues. Early on, products based on soy protein isolate were sold as extenders and meat substitutes – a strategy that failed to produce the requisite consumer demand. The industry changed its approach. “The quickest way to gain product acceptability in the less affluent society,” said an industry spokesman, “is to have the product consumed on its own merit in a more affluent society.”

(3) So soy is now sold to the upscale consumer, not as a cheap, poverty food but as a miracle substance that will prevent heart disease and cancer, whisk away hot flushes, build strong bones and keep us forever young. The competition – meat, milk, cheese, butter and eggs – has been duly demonised by the appropriate government bodies. Soy serves as meat and milk for a new generation of virtuous vegetarians.

Marketing costs money, especially when it needs to be bolstered with “research”, but there’s plenty of funds available. All soybean producers pay a mandatory assessment of one-half to one per cent of the net market price of soybeans. The total – something like US$80 million annually (4) – supports United Soybean’s program to “strengthen the position of soybeans in the marketplace and maintain and expand domestic and foreign markets for uses for soybeans and soybean products”.

State soybean councils from Maryland, Nebraska, Delaware, Arkansas, Virginia, North Dakota and Michigan provide another $2.5 million for “research”. (5) Private companies like Archer Daniels Midland also contribute their share. ADM spent $4.7 million for advertising on Meet the Press and $4.3 million on Face the Nation during the course of a year. (6) Public relations firms help convert research projects into newspaper articles and advertising copy, and law firms lobby for favorable government regulations. IMF money funds soy processing plants in foreign countries, and free trade policies keep soybean abundance flowing to overseas destinations.

The push for more soy has been relentless and global in its reach. Soy protein is now found in most supermarket breads. It is being used to transform “the humble tortilla, Mexico’s corn-based staple food, into a protein-fortified ’super-tortilla’ that would give a nutritional boost to the nearly 20 million Mexicans who live in extreme poverty”.(7) Advertising for a new soy-enriched loaf from Allied Bakeries in Britain targets menopausal women seeking relief from hot flushes. Sales are running at a quarter of a million loaves per week. (8)

The soy industry hired Norman Robert Associates, a public relations firm, to “get more soy products onto school menus”. (9) The USDA responded with a proposal to scrap the 30 per cent limit for soy in school lunches. The NuMenu program would allow unlimited use of soy in student meals. With soy added to hamburgers, tacos and lasagna, dieticians can get the total fat content below 30 per cent of calories, thereby conforming to government dictates. “With the soy-enhanced food items, students are receiving better servings of nutrients and less cholesterol and fat.”

Soy milk has posted the biggest gains, soaring from $2 million in 1980 to $300 million in the US last year. (10) Recent advances in processing have transformed the gray, thin, bitter, beany-tasting Asian beverage into a product that Western consumers will accept – one that tastes like a milkshake, but without the guilt.

Processing miracles, good packaging, massive advertising and a marketing strategy that stresses the products’ possible health benefits account for increasing sales to all age groups. For example, reports that soy helps prevent prostate cancer have made soy milk acceptable to middle-aged men. “You don’t have to twist the arm of a 55- to 60-year-old guy to get him to try soy milk,” says Mark Messina. Michael Milken, former junk bond financier, has helped the industry shed its hippie image with well-publicized efforts to consume 40 grams of soy protein daily.

America today, tomorrow the world. Soy milk sales are rising in Canada, even though soy milk there costs twice as much as cow’s milk. Soybean milk processing plants are sprouting up in places like Kenya.(11) Even China, where soy really is a poverty food and whose people want more meat, not tofu, has opted to build Western-style soy factories rather than develop western grasslands for grazing animals. (12)

Cinderella’s Dark Side
The propaganda that has created the soy sales miracle is all the more remarkable because, only a few decades ago, the soybean was considered unfit to eat – even in Asia. During the Chou Dynasty (1134-246 BC) the soybean was designated one of the five sacred grains, along with barley, wheat, millet and rice. However, the pictograph for the soybean, which dates from earlier times, indicates that it was not first used as a food; for whereas the pictographs for the other four grains show the seed and stem structure of the plant, the pictograph for the soybean emphasizes the root structure.

Agricultural literature of the period speaks frequently of the soybean and its use in crop rotation. Apparently the soy plant was initially used as a method of fixing nitrogen. (13)

The soybean did not serve as a food until the discovery of fermentation techniques, some time during the Chou Dynasty. The first soy foods were fermented products like tempeh, natto, miso and soy sauce. At a later date, possibly in the 2nd century BC, Chinese scientists discovered that a purée of cooked soybeans could be precipitated with calcium sulfate or magnesium sulfate (plaster of Paris or Epsom salts) to make a smooth, pale curd – tofu or bean curd. The use of fermented and precipitated soy products soon spread to other parts of the Orient, notably Japan and Indonesia.

The Chinese did not eat unfermented soybeans as they did other legumes such as lentils because the soybean contains large quantities of natural toxins or “antinutrients”. First among them are potent enzyme inhibitors that block the action of trypsin and other enzymes needed for protein digestion. These inhibitors are large, tightly folded proteins that are not completely deactivated during ordinary cooking. They can produce serious gastric distress, reduced protein digestion and chronic deficiencies in amino acid uptake. In test animals, diets high in trypsin inhibitors cause enlargement and pathological conditions of the pancreas, including cancer. (14)

Soybeans also contain haemagglutinin, a clot-promoting substance that causes red blood cells to clump together.

Trypsin inhibitors and haemagglutinin are growth inhibitors. Weanling rats fed soy containing these antinutrients fail to grow normally. Growth-depressant compounds are deactivated during the process of fermentation, so once the Chinese discovered how to ferment the soybean, they began to incorporate soy foods into their diets. In precipitated products, enzyme inhibitors concentrate in the soaking liquid rather than in the curd. Thus, in tofu and bean curd, growth depressants are reduced in quantity but not completely eliminated.

Soy also contains goitrogens – substances that depress thyroid function.

Soybeans are high in phytic acid, present in the bran or hulls of all seeds. It’s a substance that can block the uptake of essential minerals – calcium, magnesium, copper, iron and especially zinc – in the intestinal tract. Although not a household word, phytic acid has been extensively studied; there are literally hundreds of articles on the effects of phytic acid in the current scientific literature. Scientists are in general agreement that grain- and legume-based diets high in phytates contribute to widespread mineral deficiencies in third world countries. (15) Analysis shows that calcium, magnesium, iron and zinc are present in the plant foods eaten in these areas, but the high phytate content of soy- and grain-based diets prevents their absorption.

The soybean has one of the highest phytate levels of any grain or legume that has been studied, (16) and the phytates in soy are highly resistant to normal phytate-reducing techniques such as long, slow cooking.(17) Only a long period of fermentation will significantly reduce the phytate content of soybeans. When precipitated soy products like tofu are consumed with meat, the mineral-blocking effects of the phytates are reduced. (18) The Japanese traditionally eat a small amount of tofu or miso as part of a mineral-rich fish broth, followed by a serving of meat or fish.

Vegetarians who consume tofu and bean curd as a substitute for meat and dairy products risk severe mineral deficiencies. The results of calcium, magnesium and iron deficiency are well known; those of zinc are less so.
Zinc is called the intelligence mineral because it is needed for optimal development and functioning of the brain and nervous system. It plays a role in protein synthesis and collagen formation; it is involved in the blood-sugar control mechanism and thus protects against diabetes; it is needed for a healthy reproductive system. Zinc is a key component in numerous vital enzymes and plays a role in the immune system. Phytates found in soy products interfere with zinc absorption more completely than with other minerals. (19) Zinc deficiency can cause a “spacey” feeling that some vegetarians may mistake for the “high” of spiritual enlightenment.

Milk drinking is given as the reason why second-generation Japanese in America grow taller than their native ancestors. Some investigators postulate that the reduced phytate content of the American diet – whatever may be its other deficiencies – is the true explanation, pointing out that both Asian and Western children who do not get enough meat and fish products to counteract the effects of a high phytate diet, frequently suffer rickets, stunting and other growth problems. (20)

Soy Protein Isolate: Not So Friendly

Soy processors have worked hard to get these antinutrients out of the finished product, particularly soy protein isolate (SPI) which is the key ingredient in most soy foods that imitate meat and dairy products, including baby formulas and some brands of soy milk.

SPI is not something you can make in your own kitchen. Production takes place in industrial factories where a slurry of soy beans is first mixed with an alkaline solution to remove fiber, then precipitated and separated using an acid wash and, finally, neutralized in an alkaline solution. Acid washing in aluminum tanks leaches high levels of aluminum into the final product. The resultant curds are spray- dried at high temperatures to produce a high-protein powder. A final indignity to the original soybean is high-temperature, high-pressure extrusion processing of soy protein isolate to produce textured vegetable protein (TVP).

Much of the trypsin inhibitor content can be removed through high-temperature processing, but not all. Trypsin inhibitor content of soy protein isolate can vary as much as fivefold. (21) (In rats, even low-level trypsin inhibitor SPI feeding results in reduced weight gain compared to controls. (22) But high-temperature processing has the unfortunate side-effect of so denaturing the other proteins in soy that they are rendered largely ineffective. (23) That’s why animals on soy feed need lysine supplements for normal growth.

Nitrites, which are potent carcinogens, are formed during spray-drying, and a toxin called lysinoalanine is formed during alkaline processing. (24) Numerous artificial flavorings, particularly MSG, are added to soy protein isolate and textured vegetable protein products to mask their strong “beany” taste and to impart the flavor of meat. (25)

In feeding experiments, the use of SPI increased requirements for vitamins E, K, D and B12 and created deficiency symptoms of calcium, magnesium, manganese, molybdenum, copper, iron and zinc. (26) Phytic acid remaining in these soy products greatly inhibits zinc and iron absorption; test animals fed SPI develop enlarged organs, particularly the pancreas and thyroid gland, and increased deposition of fatty acids in the liver. (27)

Yet soy protein isolate and textured vegetable protein are used extensively in school lunch programs, commercial baked goods, diet beverages and fast food products. They are heavily promoted in third world countries and form the basis of many food giveaway programs.

In spite of poor results in animal feeding trials, the soy industry has sponsored a number of studies designed to show that soy protein products can be used in human diets as a replacement for traditional foods. An example is “Nutritional Quality of Soy Bean Protein Isolates: Studies in Children of Preschool Age”, sponsored by the Ralston Purina Company. (28) A group of Central American children suffering from malnutrition was first stabilized and brought into better health by feeding them native foods, including meat and dairy products. Then, for a two-week period, these traditional foods were replaced by a drink made of soy protein isolate and sugar. All nitrogen taken in and all nitrogen excreted was measured in truly Orwellian fashion: the children were weighed naked every morning, and all excrement and vomit gathered up for analysis. The researchers found that the children retained nitrogen and that their growth was “adequate”, so the experiment was declared a success.

Whether the children were actually healthy on such a diet, or could remain so over a long period, is another matter. The researchers noted that the children vomited “occasionally”, usually after finishing a meal; that over half suffered from periods of moderate diarrhoea; that some had upper respiratory infections; and that others suffered from rash and fever.

It should be noted that the researchers did not dare to use soy products to help the children recover from malnutrition, and were obliged to supplement the soy-sugar mixture with nutrients largely absent in soy products – notably, vitamins A, D and B12, iron, iodine and zinc.
*SNIP*

Much more found here

SAN FRANCISCO, Oct. 27  — Ghosts and goblins aren’t the only spooky things lurking around this Halloween. A new report by the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics reveals that popular children’s face paints contain lead, a potent neurotoxin, as well as nickel, cobalt and chromium, which can cause lifelong skin sensitization and contact dermatitis.

Creepier yet, these metals were not listed on any of the product labels, so
parents have no way of knowing what children are really putting on their
faces.

The Campaign for Safe Cosmetics, a national coalition of nonprofit health
groups, sent 10 children’s face paints to an independent lab to test for heavy
metals, and also reviewed ingredient labels of Halloween products sold at a
seasonal holiday store. The findings, compiled in the report Pretty Scary,
include:

– Ten out of 10 children’s face paints contained lead ranging from 0.05
to 0.65 parts per million (ppm). The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention recommends that parents avoid using cosmetics on their
children that could be contaminated with lead.

– Six out of 10 children’s face paints contained nickel, cobalt and/or
chromium, which are top allergens in children. The metals were found
at levels ranging from 1.6 to 120 ppm – many of them far exceeding
industry safety recommendations of 1 ppm.

– Snazaroo Face Paint, labeled as “non-toxic” and “hypoallergenic,”
contained some of the highest levels of lead, nickel and cobalt found
in the study.

“Parents should not have to worry that face paint contains lead and other
hazardous substances, and they have a right to know what’s in these products.

Clearly, companies are not making the safest products possible for children,
even though kids are particularly vulnerable to toxic exposures,” said Lisa
Archer, national coordinator of the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics at the Breast
Cancer Fund.

“Lead and other hazardous chemicals have no place in face paints kids use for
dress-up and play on Halloween or any other day of the year,” said Rep. Jan
Schakowsky (D-Ill.). “Strengthening our cosmetics laws and providing ample
resources are essential to ensure the FDA has the authority and tools it needs
to protect the health of our children from chemicals in cosmetics.”

To learn more about the study and for tips to limit your favorite goblin’s
toxic exposure this Halloween, see www.safecosmetics.org/prettyscary.

Found here

You deserve to know the facts, so here’s a compilation of recent studies and research clearly showing that thimerosal DOES HAVE a very real, detrimental impact on health, and that mercury toxicity is a reality in those suffering from the type of neurological damage seen in autistic children.
Most of these are from GenerationRescue.org and Fourteenstudies.org’s websites, which are great resources as they provide copies of the full studies so you can review all the evidence for yourself:

1. Environmental Health Perspectives, August, 2005
   Fourteenstudies.org states: “This study demonstrates clearly and unequivocally that ethyl mercury, the kind of mercury found in vaccines, not only ends up in your brain, but leaves double the amount of inorganic mercury as methyl mercury, the kind of mercury found in fish.
   This work is groundbreaking because little is known about ethyl mercury, and many health authorities have asserted that the mercury found in vaccines is the "safe kind."
   
   This study also delivers a strong rebuke of the Institute of Medicine’s recommendation in 2004 to no longer pursue the mercury-autism connection. Excerpt:
   "A recently published IOM review (IOM 2004) appears to have abandoned the earlier recommendation [of studying mercury and autism] as well as back away from the American Academy of Pediatrics goal [of removing mercury from vaccines].
   This approach is difficult to understand, given our current limited knowledge of the toxicokinetics and developmental neurotoxicity of thimerosal, a compound that has been (and will continue to be) injected in millions of newborns and infants."

2. Cell Biology and Toxicology April 9, 2009 [Epub Ahead of Print]
   Exerpt: “In conclusion, MT-1 and MT-3 mRNAs but not MT-2 mRNA are easily expressed in the cerebellum rather than in the cerebrum by the injection of low-dose thimerosal. It is thought that the cerebellum is a sensitive organ against thimerosal.
   As a result of the present findings, in combination with the brain pathology observed in patients diagnosed with autism, the present study helps to support the possible biological plausibility for how low-dose exposure to mercury from thimerosal-containing vaccines may be associated with autism.”

3. Annals of Epidemiology September 2009: 19(9);659
   Male infants who received thimerosal-containing hepatitis-B vaccinations had a three-fold risk of developing autism.

4. Neurotoxicology October 1, 2009
   The above findings are confirmed in this study wherein infant primates injected with just ONE dose of thimerosal-containing hepatitis B vaccine manifested significant developmental delays.

5. Brain Research September 9, 2009 [Epub Ahead of Print]
   Study concluded that injecting thimerosal into suckling infant rats, and adult rats, impairs sensitivity to pain, apparently due to activation the endogenous opioid system.

6. Toxicology & Environmental Chemistry September-October 2008: 90(5);997-1008
   Male infants who received thimerosal-containing hepatitis-B vaccinations were nine times as likely to be receiving special education services

7. Generation Rescue Survey of 9,000 boys, aged 4-17, in California and Oregon, found that vaccinated boys had a 155 percent greater chance of having a neurological disorder than unvaccinated boys. Vaccinated boys were 224 percent more likely to have Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), and 61 percent more likely to have autism.
   For boys in the 11-17 age bracket, the results were even more pronounced. Vaccinated boys were 158 percent more likely to have a neurological disorder, 317 percent more likely to have ADHD, and 112 percent more likely to have autism.

8. Report to the Legislature on the Principle Findings from The Epidemiology of Autism in California: A Comprehensive Pilot Study by the MIND Institute, October 2002, concluded that the rise in autism cannot be explained by better diagnosis and expanded diagnostic criteria, but rather is a real event, likely propelled by “environmental exposures to substances such as mercury; viral exposures; autoimmune disorders; and childhood vaccinations."

9. Toxicology and Applied Pharmacology 2006: 214; 99-108
   This French study used a new, sophisticated measurement for environmental toxicity by assessing porphyrin levels in autistic children. It provides clear and unequivocal evidence that children with autism spectrum disorders are significantly more toxic than their neurotypical peers.

10. Journal of American Physicians and Surgeon, 2003
    Exerpt: "The data from this study, along with emerging epidemiological data showing a link between increasing mercury doses from childhood vaccines and childhood neurodevelopmental disorders, increases the likelihood that mercury is one of the main factors leading to the large increase in the rate of autism and other neurodevelopmental disorders. It is hoped that removing thimerosal from all childhood vaccines will contribute to a decline in the numbers of new cases of autistic spectrum disorders."

11. Journal of Toxicology and Environmental Health 2007: 70; 837-851
    This study reviewed the case histories and medical profiles of nine autistic children and concluded that eight of the nine children were mercury toxic and this toxicity manifested itself in a manner consistent with Autism Spectrum Disorders.

12. Neuropediatrics, August 2006
    
    Exerpt: "There was significant difference in blood mercury levels between cases and controls, which persists after adjustment for age, gender and parental occupational status. The geometric mean blood mercury level was also significantly higher in children with inattentive and combined subtypes of ADHD. CONCLUSION: High blood mercury level was associated with ADHD. Whether the relationship is causal requires further studies."

13. International Journal of Toxicology 2003: 22; 277-285
    Fourteenstudies.org states: “This recent study demonstrates that the levels of mercury in the birth hair of autistic children were significantly lower than their control peers. While this may at first appear contradictory, it highlights one of the critical insights to understanding mercury poisoning and autistic children: many autistic children are non-excretors of mercury. This means their capacity to excrete mercury is significantly lower than their neurotypical peers and contributes to their condition.”

14. Journal of Pediatrics, May 2000: 136; 679-681
    This study measured mercury levels in infants before and after the administration of a Hepatitis B vaccine containing thimerosal and found that a "comparison of pre and post-vaccination mercury levels showed a significant increase in both preterm and term infants after vaccination."

15. Neurotoxicology January 2005: 26; 1-8
    Study demonstrates that thimerosal lowers or inhibits your body’s ability to produce glutathione, an antioxidant and your body’s primary cellular-level defense against mercury.
    Excerpt: "Thimerosal-induced cytotoxicity was associated with depletion of intracellular Glutathione in both cell lines…The potential effect of Glutathione or N-acetylcysteine against mercury toxicity warrants further research as possible adjunct therapy to individuals still receiving Thimerosal-containing vaccines."

16. Environmental Health Perspectives, July 2006
    Study demonstrates that very low-levels of Thimerosal can contribute to immune system disregulation.

17. Molecular Psychiatry July 2004; 1-13
    Study demonstrates how thimerosal inhibits methylation, a central driver of cellular communication and development.
    Exerpt: "The potent inhibition of this pathway [methylation] by ethanol, lead, mercury, aluminum, and thimerosal suggests it may be an important target of neurodevelopmental toxins."

18. Molecular Psychiatry September 2004; 1-13
    Fouteenstudies.org states: “This work by Columbia University Doctors explores whether genes are important in determining if mercury exposures akin to those in childhood immunizations can disrupt brain development and function.
    It is the first known scientific study done specifically on ethlymercury administered in a way similar to the vaccine schedule. Dr. Hornig discussed the study before Congress in September 2004.”
    Excerpt: "The premise of our research is that if mercury in vaccines creates risk for neurodevelopmental disorders such as autism, genetic differences are likely to contribute to that risk. Earlier studies, however, did not use the form of mercury present in vaccines, known as thimerosal, and did not consider whether intramuscular, repetitive administration during early postnatal development, when the brain and immune systems are still maturing, might intensify toxicity.
    Our predictions were confirmed. Using thimerosal dosages and timing that approximated the childhood immunization schedule, our model of postnatal thimerosal neurotoxicity demonstrated that the genes in mice that predict mercury-related immunotoxicity also predicted nuerodevelopmental damage. Features reminiscent of those observed in autism occurred in the mice of the genetically sensitive strain."

19. Toxicological Sciences 2003: 74
    Study demonstrates the potent toxicity of thimerosal on brain cells.

20. Autoimmunity Reviews June 2005: 4(5):270-275
    Study demonstrates the clear link between ethylmercury [from thimerosal] and autoimmune responses.

21. Congressional Record – Extensions of Remarks by Congressman Dan Burton (R-IN), Committee on Government Reform, May 21, 2003
    Fouteenstudies.org states: “This extensive report was prepared by the staff of the Subcommittee on Human Rights and Wellness and was the result of a three-year investigation. The Committee on Government Reform, chaired by Congressman Dan Burton, initiated the investigation and compiled the testimony of hundreds of researchers and physicians, as well as representatives from the FDA and CDC, who presented to the committee.”
    Excerpt: "Mercury is hazardous to humans. Its use in medicinal products is undesirable, unnecessary and should be minimized or eliminated entirely. Manufacturers of vaccines and thimerosal, (an ethlymercury compound used in vaccines), have never conducted adequate testing on the safety of thimerosal. The FDA has never required manufacturers to conduct adequate safety testing on thimerosal and ethlymercury compounds…
    Thimerosal used as a preservative in vaccines is likely related to the autism epidemic. This epidemic in all probability may have been prevented or curtailed had the FDA not been asleep at the switch regarding injected thimerosal and the sharp rise of infant exposure to this known neurotoxin. Our public health agencies’ failure to act is indicative of institutional malfeasance for self-protection and misplaced protectionism of the pharmaceutical industry."

22. Journal of American Physicians and Surgeons 2006; 11(1); 8-13
    Upon analysis of the Vaccine Adverse Events Reporting System (VAERS), researchers reported significantly increased odds ratios for autism, speech disorders, mental retardation and thinking abnormalities following vaccination with thimerosal-containing vaccines (DTP and Hib), compared to children who received a vaccine containing half the amount of thimerosal (DTPH).
    The American Academy of Pediatrics decided that this study was flawed because it relied on VAERS data, which as a “passive surveillance system” is no intended to be used for proving hypotheses.

Links from the article Washington Health Department Suspends Mercury Restrictions for Swine Flu Vaccine by Dr. Mercola

*SNIP*  Very interesting article about the effects vaccines have on our brains and body.

Dr. Moulden, we understand that you have made a revolutionary discovery. Can you tell us about it?

I would be happy to.

Through my extensive research and my work throughout the years, I have discovered that vaccinations are causing impaired blood flow (ischemia) to brain and body from clinically silent to death. These are strokes – across the board for all of us. I have reason to believe that all are being affected and all vaccinations ARE causing the overwhelming rise in autism, specific learning disabilities, attention deficit disorders, sudden infant death, gulf war syndrome, dementia, seizure disorders, some cancers it would appear, and much much more.

What led you away from the rigid and possibly blinkered views of most of the rest of the medical profession?

The brain and nervous system is wired in a very specific format. Functions are localized to specific areas. Having studied brain and behavior, neurosciences, clinical neuropsychology, child neurodevelopment, functional brain imaging, clinical neurology, clinical neuropsychiatry, clinical medicine, immunology, hematology, tests and measurement, and understanding the tools and assumptions and techniques of mainstream medicine, I fell in the unique position of having being able to see clinical medicine problems, from a multitude of simultaneous areas of expertise and scientific knowledge. Relative to the human brain, I understood “rules and laws” of brain function relative to brain damage and the mechanisms of medical physiology that can uniquely cause unique patterns of brain damage in ways that my clinical skills could detect, that mainstream neuroimaging cannot. The initial “aha” moment was in 2001.

What was it which caught your attention, what tipped you off and incited you to scratch the surface and investigate further?

I was seeing, autistic patients, coming out of medical school – they had a trans-cortical motor aphasia, isolation of speech syndrome, and very specific cranial nerve palsies that could ONLY be accounted for by ischemic stroke. Remarkably, my studies of schizophrenia, dementia, and research exposure to neuroimaging modalities and brain and behavioral assessments before medical school contributed to my ability to “see” what has been in front of our eyes all along – ischemic strokes and brain damages – from vaccinations. The problem has been we neither knew how to measure, when to measure or what to measure, let alone what the limitations were, of the tools we have been using to measure brain integrity, in health, disease and disorder.

It has taken the past several years to decipher how ischemic brain damages were happening in the autism we were seeing and the many other neurodevelopmental disorders. I now believe I have the answers for this, or so it appears and some solutions.

Wild polio caused the exact same brain damages as ALL other vaccines are. Indeed, Guillian Barre syndrome and a host of other neurological disorders is being caused by a common mechanism of injury – albeit from different triggers for different individuals. This is ischemia –from impaired blood flow in microcirculation units. We simply did not appreciate what was right before our eyes.

My first cases included several Autistic and Schizophrenic patients. They were showing the exact same acute onset palsies – paralysis. These brain damages were subtle – but measurable multiple, and were present in the pre-vaccine era for wild viruses like polio and infantile paralysis.

Once I was armed with the knowledge and skills of a medical doctor, a clinical neuropsychologist, a child neurodevelopmentalist, with research experience in neuroimaging, tests and measurement, scientific method design and analysis, functional localization of brain and behavioral disorders, and a broad base across several other scientific disciplines, I was able to see “the whole forest” despite the trees. Quite literally, I believe I have found and discovered a common mechanism towards acquired human disease and disorder – all of it. It is truly humbling.

How have you been able to show this and how have you managed to demonstrate this? What medical imaging underlies it all? What medical imaging is the basis for it all?

I have quantified and expanded standard neurological and clinical neuropsychological tools of brain function and assessment. In essence, I have “digitized” the neurological and neuropsychological physical neurological exams across neurodevelopment using contemporary image enhancement software constrained to functional localization in the brain relative to end vascular, watershed territories – “the end of the road” for varied brain blood vessel areas. All of my tools and techniques are non-invasive.

I am now able to assess in the here and now, or looking back 50 years ago, to answer questions as to cause, in disease, neurodevelopment disorders, and much more. Remarkably, we can now advance diagnose sudden infant death syndrome, and I can answer questions relative to – Was this a shaken baby?, Did vaccines cause this person to have autism? Was this death caused by Gardasil? Did vaccines cause these damages? Since the mechanism to damages is common across all, when vaccines are involved – and sometimes even virulent infectious diseases.

What is the basic information underlying your claims and what is the foundation of your beliefs?

Germs simply are not the only root cause of death, disease, and disorder. I have now conclusively shown that ALL vaccines, from infancy to geriatric, are causing the exact same brain damages irrespective of what disease or disorder comes out. The damages are specific to end vascular “mini strokes” that are beneath the resolution of our neuroimaging, but measurable in a before/after vaccination protocol. They are also directly measurable in real time – however, this involves techniques and technology I have not disclosed to the public as yet.

Remarkably, wild polio, pre-natal German measles, measles, tetanus, “Spanish flu”, etc.. all caused the exact same damages in the pre-vaccine era. We simply did not appreciate that a generic response in the human body was causing the paralysis and respiratory failure and more in from a non-specific immune response and instability of microscopic blood flow hemodynamics.

We have weakened viruses and bacteria, injected them into all of us and caused chronic illness and disease in an attenuated form, this is how these pathogens have always caused harm. It is the bodies response to foreign things entering it, especially under hypersensitivity states, that is causing neurodevelopment disorders and chronic illness and much more.

*SNIP*

Much more Found here

The Iodine Allergy Myth

Some people that have a history of allergy to shellfish, a history of a previous reaction to IV iodinated contrast, or a history of a reaction to a topical iodine solution, have been told that they have “iodine allergy.”   This is actually not correct.  “Iodine Allergy”  doesn’t really exist. Iodine is a substance essential to life and is found throughout your body like within thyroid hormone or in amino acids, your body’s basic building blocks.  The reactions experienced in each of these situations do not have to do with the presence of the iodine.  Instead, in each case the reaction is to another substance.  In the case of shellfish, the reaction is to tropomyosin, a muscle protein.  In the case of iodinated contrast, it is the other portion of the contrast molecule, not the iodine.  In the case of topical iodine solution, it is to other substances in the solution, not the iodine itself.

Shellfish allergy is not a contraindication to iodinated contrast because the allergy is entirely unrelated.  This is a longstanding myth even within the medical community and is difficult to dispel.  To some degree, asthma will increase the possibility of a contrast reaction.  Sensitivity to Betadine® and other Iodine-containing solutions is unrelated to reactions to iodinated radiographic contrast agents.

From the American Academy of Allergy Asthma and Immunology:

“Once a person has one contrast reaction they are at very high risk for more unless treated. The reactions do tend to be worse in people who are dehydrated (dried out) when they are given the contrast in their veins. These reactions are not caused by iodine and are not more common in people with shellfish or any other true allergy. They can be minimized by pretreatment with antihistamines and oral steroids and/or using non-ionic contrast material that, interestingly, still has iodine in it.”

More found here

A new study has shown that giving Hepatitis B vaccine to newborn baby boys more than triples their risk of developing an autism spectrum disorder.

The study’s authors used U.S. probability samples obtained from National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) 1997–2002 datasets.

The conclusion states that: “Findings suggest that U.S. male neonates vaccinated with hepatitis B vaccine had a 3-fold greater risk of ASD.”

The authors also noted that an earlier study by them found that hepatitis B vaccination was associated with receipt of early intervention and special education services.

The new study used a different database than their earlier study, and they found same results, suggesting a validation of their findings.

Routine use of the hepatitis B vaccine for all newborns began in 1992, despite the fact that there was absolutely NO logical argument for it. It should never have been included in the immunization schedule, and here’s why.

Do Newborns Really NEED the Hepatitis B Vaccine?

Folks, hepatitis B is about as difficult to catch as AIDS. Namely, you nearly always need to have blood or sexual contact of some sort.
That is why the main risk factors are IV drug abusers and those who engage in sex with multiple partners.

In addition, vaccine-derived immunity is thought to be short lived. Up to 60 percent of persons who initially respond will lose detectable antibodies within 12 years. So that means that these vaccines will provide little to no protection to the real risks of acquiring hepatitis B, namely promiscuous sexual behavior and IV drug abuse.

The Vaccine Harms FAR More Children Than it Helps

The Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS) was developed by the government to report vaccine reactions. Many experts believe that only 10 percent of the adverse reactions are reported though, as reporting is not mandated by law. (Some surveys puts this number closer to ONE percent.)

Even with only 10 percent of the problems being reported, there were nearly 25,000 VAERS hepatitis B reports from July 1990 to October 31, 1998 (prior to adding the Hep B vaccine to the immunization schedule), showing 439 deaths and 9,673 serious reactions involving emergency room visits, hospitalization, disablement, or death.

Now, hepatitis B is a rare, mainly blood-transmitted disease. In 1996 only 54 cases of the disease were reported to the CDC in the 0-1 age group. There were 3.9 million births that year, so the observed incidence of hepatitis B in the 0-1 age group was just 0.001 percent.

Meanwhile, in that same year VAERS received 1,080 total reports of adverse reactions from hepatitis B vaccine in the 0-1 age group, including 47 deaths!

Put in simpler terms: for every child that contracted hepatitis B there were 20 immunized babies that were reported to have severe complications. Let us also remember that only 10 percent of the reactions are ever reported, which means traditional medicine is harming about 200 children to protect one from hepatitis B!

It is simply inexcusable…

The Vaccine-Autism Links

Despite the assertion by conventional health experts that no link has ever been found between vaccines and autism, there are plenty of links, if you know how to look. And as the article in The Age of Autism states, you cannot come to a conclusion on the vaccine-autism issue by looking at studies that examine just one type of vaccine, or one type of ingredient.

Children today receive a whopping 48 doses of vaccines before the age of six. For a chart showing the various types of vaccines included in the childhood vaccination schedule, you can download this flyer from NVIC.org.

According to David Kirby, author of Evidence of Harm: Mercury in Vaccines and the Autism Epidemic: A Medical Controversy, of the 11 different types of vaccines administered, only the Measles-Mumps-Rubella (MMR) shot has actually been studied in association with autism. But where are the studies of all the others in relation to autism?

And where are the rigorous studies demonstrating the cumulative effect of several vaccines administered simultaneously , or within a short time span?

It is illogical, and downright ignorant, to state that the current vaccination schedule is a-okay and vaccines have nothing to do with the rise in autism, based on the studies that have been done so far.

Autism Rates have Risen to New Heights

For a number of years the accepted rate of autism was about 1 in 150, but the most recent statistics suggest that autism rates in the U.S. have now conservatively increased to 1 in 63. And this number is TWO years old.

This is the shocking conclusion from the 2007 survey results from the National Survey of Children’s Health (NSCH), which reveals a 100 percent increase in parent-reported cases of autism spectrum disorders (ASD), compared to their 2003 survey.

A similar British study puts the current U.K. rate at 1 in 83.

Clearly, something is going on; something is going wrong! And to simply dismiss the vaccine link with a blanket statement that has not been verified by rigorous scientific study is unconscionable.

If we want a healthier world, we must all become citizens for sanity and logic, and demand a more rational approach, where safety comes before profits.

After all, just like there were links between smoking and lung cancer long before conventional medicine changed their tune, there’s enough proof today to call a complete halt to our excessive vaccine program, and ban any level of mercury in vaccines.

But just like the case of Big Tobacco, Big Pharma refuses to do what’s right and protect you and your children from unnecessary harm, because it would mean a drastic reduction in profits.

Hepatitis B Vaccine and Increased Risk of Neurological Disorders

Using datasets from 1997 to 2002, this latest study found that newborn boys more than tripled their risk of developing an autism spectrum disorder after receiving the Hepatitis B vaccine.

The increased use of the Hepatitis B vaccine also coincides with the original rise in autism. According to the CDC’s National Immunization Survey, 8 percent of infants received the Hep B vaccine in 1992. At the time the ASD rate was 67 in 10,000.

Four years later, at which time 82 percent of infants received the Hep B vaccine, the ASD rate rose to about 100 in 10,000.

At the time, the Hep B vaccine contained 25 micrograms of thimerosal – a mercury-containing ingredient that has long been thought to be a contributing factor to autism due to its potent neurotoxic effects.

According to the FDA, new thimerosal-free pediatric formulations of hepatitis B vaccines were licensed in August 1999, (Recombivax-HB by Merck) and in January 2007 (Engerix-B by Glaxo SmithKline). (For a listing of thimerosal content in current U.S. licensed vaccines, see this link.)

However, despite the fact that the Hep B vaccine no longer contains thimerosal, recent research have shown that the Hepatitis B vaccine can still damage myelin in those with certain genetic factors.

One recent study found that children who received the Hepatitis B vaccine were 50 percent more likely to develop “central nervous system inflammatory demyelination” than children who did not receive the vaccine.

GlaxoSmithKline’s Engerix B brand of the vaccine was shown to be the worst of the bunch, increasing the risk of demyelination by 74 percent. It also nearly tripled the risk of developing multiple sclerosis in genetically susceptible people.

As I mentioned above, Engerix-B was licensed as a thimerosal free version of the vaccine in January 2007. However, all formulations contain approximately 0.5 mg of aluminum per mL of vaccine instead, which may be even worse than mercury…

As you can see, there are likely a wide variety of potential factors involved; not just one vaccine or one ingredient.

We need to know what all of these exposures in combination mean to the health of our children if we ever want to turn this tide of autism around.

More here.

Sept. 9, 2009 — An FDA advisory committee voted to recommend approval of the vaccine Gardasil for males ages 9 to 26 to prevent genital warts.
Gardasil targets four strains of human papillomavirus, commonly called HPV. Males can carry HPV and transmit it sexually to their partners.

HPV can cause genital warts and penile and anal cancer in men. Each year, about 200 out of 100,000 males are newly diagnosed with genital warts, according to background information cited by the FDA. Penile cancer and anal cancer are much rarer.

Gardasil already has FDA approval for use in females ages 9 to 26. In females, HPV can cause cervical cancer.

The FDA advisory committee ruled 7 to 0, with one abstaining vote, that Gardasil’s clinical trial data support the vaccine’s effectiveness at preventing genital warts in males ages 9 to 26. And in a 7 to 1 vote, the advisory committee ruled that the data show Gardasil to be safe for males in that age range.

The FDA advisory committeereviewed three studies of Gardasil that together included more than 5,000 males ages 9 to 26 in various countries including the U.S.

Participants got a total of three shots of Gardasil or a placebo spread over six months. They also got checkups and tests to check for HPV infection.
Gardasil was 89% effective in preventing genital warts. The vaccine was less effective in participants who had already been exposed to HPV.
No serious side effects were seen, according to information posted on the FDA’s web site.

The most commonly reported adverse events were fever and headache. Injection site reactions were more common with Gardasil than with the placebo. Most of those reactions were mild to moderate in intensity, Gardasil’s maker, the drug company Merck, states in a document posted on the FDA’s web site.

Gardasil is already licensed for use in males in many countries, and there haven’t been any red flags raised about the vaccine’s safety in the limited number of international safety reports that have been done, FDA documents state. But the FDA says that post-marketing surveillance and studies will be “essential” if Gardasil is approved for males.

There weren’t enough data to assess Gardasil for preventing other conditions, since those conditions were so rare, the FDA notes.

It’s now up to the FDA to decide whether to approve Gardasil to prevent genital warts in boys and young men. The FDA often follows the recommendations of its advisory committees, but it isn’t required to do so.
Gardasil is up for FDA consideration only as a way to prevent genital warts in boys — not to prevent cancer in males or to curb transmission of the HPV virus to women.

found here