Mercurochrome / Re: [chelatingkids2] Is there any other name for Thimersol?; Yes

[Guest guest]

Found at:

http://www.straightdope.com/columns/040723.html

What happened to Mercurochrome?

23-Jul-2004

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Dear Cecil:

I had skin surgery recently and was told to apply Mercurochrome to aid in

scarless healing. The product, once widely available, is sold by only one

vendor in Boise, and I'm told they manufacture their own. Another pharmacist

told me they were not allowed to handle or sell it. What happened to this

antiseptic that I grew up with? -- Young, Boise, Idaho

Cecil replies:

You're dating yourself, pops. Few under age 30 have ever heard of this

stuff. In 1998, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration declared that

Mercurochrome, generically known as merbromin, was " not generally recognized

as safe and effective " as an over-the-counter antiseptic and forbade its

sale across state lines. A few traditionalists complained: Whaddya mean, not

generally recognized as safe? Moms have been daubing it on their kids' owies

since the Harding administration! But the more reasonable reaction was: It's

about time.

For many years the FDA, faced with the task of regulating thousands of

pharmaceuticals and food additives, many of which long predated federal

oversight, has maintained the so-called GRAS (generally recognized etc)

list, originally compiled as a way of grandfathering in products like

Mercurochrome that had been around for ages and hadn't hurt or killed a

noticeable number of people. Recognizing that from a scientific standpoint

such a standard left a lot to be desired, the FDA has been whittling away at

the unexamined products on the GRAS list over time. Mercurochrome and other

drugs containing mercury came up for scrutiny as part of a general review of

over-the-counter antiseptics that began in 1978, and for good

reason--mercury in large enough doses is a poison that harms the brain, the

kidneys, and developing fetuses. While no one's offered evidence of mass

Mercurochrome poisoning, the medical literature contains scattered reports

of mercury toxicity due to use of the antiseptic, and these days the burden

of proof is on drug manufacturers to show that their products' benefits

outweigh the risks. In the case of Mercurochrome and many other

mercury-containing compounds, that had never been done.

The FDA initially proposed clipping Mercurochrome's GRAS status in 1982 and

asked for comment. Hearing little, the FDA classified the antiseptic as a

" new drug, " meaning that anyone proposing to sell it nationwide had to

submit it to the same rigorous approval process required of a drug invented

last month. (This took place in 1998--nobody's going to accuse the FDA of

rushing to judgment.) It's not out of the question that a pharmaceutical

company will do so someday--published research on Mercurochrome, though

hardly abundant, suggests the stuff is reasonably effective. However, the

approval process is time-consuming and expensive and any patent protection

Mercurochrome might once have had surely expired long ago. For the

foreseeable future those yearning for that delicious Mercurochrome sting

will have to look somewhere else.

Other notes from the mercury wars, as long as we're on the subject:

a.. Already illegal in some states and municipalities, mercury fever

thermometers appear to be headed for history's dustbin. The U.S. Senate

approved a federally mandated phase-out in 2002, although the bill didn't

make it through the House. Even in jurisdictions where mercury thermometers

are still legal, many drugstores are dropping them in favor of the digital

electronic type, which are unarguably safer--although you don't get to play

with those cool quicksilver globules when they break.

b.. Despite two decades of controversy and threatened legislative bans,

amalgam ( " silver " ) tooth fillings, which are half mercury, are still a

mainstay of dentistry. Although some health activists claim the mercury

leaches out of the fillings and into the body, the FDA in a 2002 statement

reaffirmed the mainstream view, to wit: " No valid scientific evidence has

shown that amalgams cause harm to patients with dental restorations, except

in the rare case of allergy. "

c.. Thimerosal, a mercury-containing preservative in vaccines, is

suspected of causing autism and other neurological disorders in children. A

recent review by a panel of prominent scientists found no evidence for the

much-publicized autism link; nonetheless thimerosal is no longer used in

most vaccines, flu shots being the chief exception.

d.. More than 30 years after the alarm was first raised, mercury

accumulation in fish remains the chief source of exposure to the toxic metal

in the U.S. The FDA advises that pregnant women, women who may become

pregnant, nursing mothers, and young children avoid shark, swordfish, king

mackerel, and tilefish entirely and limit consumption of albacore tuna

(canned white tuna and tuna steaks) to 6 ounces (one meal) per week. Canned

light tuna, shrimp, salmon, pollock, and catfish are said to be OK for up to

12 ounces per week. Some say even these guidelines, particularly the one for

albacore, are too permissive. I'm not one to encourage the paranoids, but

when you look at some of the brain-damaged decisions that get made in this

country, often you can't help but think somebody's mom ate too much fish.

--CECIL ADAMS

fldofdrms@...

fjennings@...

Re: [chelatingkids2] Is there any other name for Thimersol?; Yes

> In a message dated 1/2/2006 9:12:21 PM Eastern Standard Time,

> sircarlito@... writes:

> Int the meantime, the most common alternative name is mertholiate.

> MERTHIOLATE?!?!?!?!?! Like what our mothers used to use for cuts and

> scrapes???????( I was getting cuts and scrapes in the 50's.) Thank

> goodness my

> mother used Unguentine-or maybe that was preserved w/ thimerasol

> too......chris

>

>

>