Autism and other brain dysfunctions in American children is linked to thimerosal-containing childhood vaccines, say doctors, activists and Rep. Dan Burton, R-Ind., chairman of the House Human Rights and Wellness Subcommittee.

Doctors and activists assembled in Chicago to discuss a new study that claims to show an association between thimerosal and brain dysfunctions. The study claims to show “strong epidemiological evidence for a link between increasing mercury from thimerosal-containing childhood vaccines and neurodevelopmental disorders and heart disease.”

The study shows that “the relative risk of those disorders correlated with increasing doses of mercury contained in childhood vaccines.”

The CDC says about thimerosal: “There are no data or evidence of any harm caused by the level of exposure that some children may have encountered in following the existing immunization schedule.”

Vaccine manufacturers say no link between thimerosal in vaccines and autism exists.

“I hope somebody will ask the question, is there collusion between the pharmaceutical companies and our health agencies?” asked Burton. “The appearance in many cases is that there is.”

Liz Birt, an attorney with Burton’s Subcommittee on Human Rights and Wellness, said that during the 1990s, the U.S. childhood vaccination schedule exposed some children to 125 times the federal limit on mercury exposure set by the Environmental Protection Agency.

(via United Press International)