Formaldehyde in vaccines, Study notes of Biochemistry

Download Formaldehyde in vaccines and more Study notes Biochemistry in PDF only on Docsity!

FORMALDEHYDE IN VACCINES

Vaccines Due to the recent outbreak of measles in California at the end of 2014, there is a huge debate among parents who choose to vaccinate their children and those who do not have their children vaccinated. Although all 50 states require children who enter public schools to be current on their immunizations, an exemption can be obtained based on medical, religious or philosophical reasons. One reason that many parents choose not to give their children the vaccinations is because more parents are becoming aware of the chemicals that are in immunizations. Among many of these chemicals used in immunizations is formaldehyde. Formaldehyde is an organic chemical compound with a strong smell and is colorless and flammable. It has the chemical formula of CH20 or HCHO and is also known as methanol. Methanol occurs naturally in the environment and is also produced in very small amounts by humans and other most other living organisms as part of metabolic processes. The enzymes in the body break it down into formic acid, CH202, and then it is broken down further into CO where it can be exhaled by the body. Exposure to formaldehyde also occurs through various foods we eat and products we use such as cosmetics, soaps, shampoos, lotions, sunscreens, and cleaning products. While hardly any information is found on the effects of formaldehyde injected into the body in the small amounts found inside vaccinations. The known effects of methanol may give enough reasons for parents to want to limit their children’s exposure to this chemical as much as possible. Rats in a lab that were exposed to formaldehyde through inhalation were more likely to get cancer of the naso-pharynx and leukemia. Those who were exposed to the methanol through a 10% solution mixed with water and ingested formed stomach tumors. It has also been found that many workers who are consistently exposed to CH20 in the workplace also have a higher risk of leukemia, myeloid leukemia in particular.

Vaccines

References

(n.d.). Retrieved July 31, 2022, from http://vaccines.procon.org/view.resource.php? resourceID=005206#header_mmr (n.d.). Retrieved July 31, 2022, from http://www.cancer.org/cancer/cancercauses/othercarcinogens/intheworkplace/ (n.d.). Retrieved July 31, 2022, from http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/PHS/PHS.asp? id=218&tid=