Thiomersal
In 1999, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) asked vaccine makers to remove the organomercury compound thiomersal (spelled "thimerosal" in the US) from vaccines as quickly as possible, and thiomersal has been phased out of US and European vaccines, except for some preparations of influenza vaccine. The CDC and the AAP followed the precautionary principle, which assumes that there is no harm in exercising caution even if it later turns out to be unwarranted, but their 1999 action sparked confusion and controversy that thiomersal was a cause of autism.Since 2000, the thiomersal in child vaccines has been alleged to contribute to autism, and thousands of parents in the United States have pursued legal compensation from a federal fund. A 2004 Institute of Medicine (IOM) committee favored rejecting any causal relationship between thiomersal-containing vaccines and autism. Autism incidence rates increased steadily even after thiomersal was removed from childhood vaccines. Currently there is no accepted scientific evidence that exposure to thiomersal is a factor in causing autism. Dental amalgam toxicity
Dental amalgam is a possible cause of low-level mercury poisoning due to its use in dental fillings. Discussion on the topic includes debates on whether amalgam should be used, with critics arguing that its toxic effects make it unsafe. Cosmetics
Some skin whitening products contain the toxic mercury(II) chloride as the active ingredient. When applied, the chemical readily absorbs through the skin into the bloodstream. The use of mercury in cosmetics is illegal in the United States.
His treatment was to order the lower deck gun ports to be opened, when it was safe to do so; sleeping on the orlop was forbidden; and no men slept in the lower deck if they were at all symptomatic. Windsails were set to channel fresh air into the lower decks day and night. Historically, gold-mercury amalgam was widely used in gilding, applied to the object and then heated to vaporize the mercury and deposit the gold, leading to numerous casualties among the workers. It is estimated that during the construction of Saint Isaacs Cathedral alone, 60 men died from the gilding of the main dome. For years, including the early part of his presidency, Abraham Lincoln took a common medicine of his time called "blue mass", which contained significant amounts of mercury. On September 5, 1920, silent movie actress Olive Thomas ingested mercury capsules dissolved in an alcoholic solution at the Hotel Ritz in Paris. There is still controversy over whether it was suicide, or whether she consumed the external preparation by mistake. Her husband, Jack Pickford (the brother of Mary Pickford), had syphilis, and the mercury was used as a treatment of the venereal disease at the time. She died a few days later at the American Hospital in Neuilly.