WHO: Questions and answers on new facts and figures on vaccines and the global mercury treaty

[Initial question from document]
Q. Are there new data on the human health impact of thiomersal in vaccines?
A. Yes, an independent scientific advisory body convened by WHO, the Global Advisory Committee on Vaccine Safety (GACVS), reviewed the latest data on 7 June 2012. The report of the meeting will be published in the WHO Weekly Epidemiological Record on 20 July 2012 (http://www.who.int/wer/2012/en/ ). The Committee concluded that numerous well–‐designed Epidemiological studies conducted in many countries have failed to find a causal relationship Between prenatal, neonatal, or postnatal exposures to thiomersal in vaccines and a host of Neuropsychological outcomes, including autism.

The small number of studies which had suggested an association had significant flaws in their design and underlying assumptions, thus invalidating their conclusions. Other studies conducted Since 2008, including analysis of mercury in blood and hair, provided confirmation that the half –‐ life of thiomersal (ethyl mercury) was much shorter than that of methyl mercury.
Document pdf: http://www.who.int/entity/immunization/newsroom/QAs_new_facts_figures_thiomersal_June_2012.pdf

Guidelines on regulatory expectations related to the elimination, reduction or replace of thiomersal in vaccines (2004)
http://www.who.int/entity/biologicals/publications/trs/areas/vaccines/thiomersal/Annex%204%20(95-102)TRS926thiomersal.pdf

 
INC4: The fourth session of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee to prepare a global legally binding instrument on Mercury (INC4) was held in Punta del Este, Uruguay, from 27 June to 2 July 2012.
http://www.unep.org/hazardoussubstances/Mercury/Negotiations/INC4/tabid/3470/Default.aspx