Thiomersal and vaccines
Thiomersal (or Thimerosal) is a mercury compound used as a preservative used in some vaccines. Anti-vaccination activists promoting the incorrect claim that vaccination causes autism, have asserted that the mercury in thiomersal is the cause. There is no scientific evidence to support this claim. The idea that thiomersal in vaccines might have detrimental effects originated with anti-vaccination activists and was sustained by them and especially through the action of plaintiffs' lawyers.The potential impact of thiomersal on autism has been investigated extensively.