Blunt signs limited ban on mercury in vaccines

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Gov. Matt Blunt on Wednesday signed legislation into law that will ban immunizations containing more than trace amounts of mercury for children under 3 and pregnant women.

The restriction will take effect as of April 1, 2007. Mercury is sometimes used as a preservative in vaccines.

Mounting scientific evidence of a link between mercury exposure and the onset of autism in children prompted the legislation. Cause and effect, however, haven't been conclusively established.

During the legislative process, the scope of the bill changed several times. At various points, it called for an outright ban on vaccines containing mercury or included higher cutoff ages.

Jessica Robinson, Blunt's spokeswoman, said the governor is satisfied with the restrictions in the final version.

"He is pleased legislators found a compromise that both addresses parents' concerns and provides pediatricians with access to options related to vaccines," Robinson said.

Blunt plans to hold a public signing ceremony next week in Springfield to promote the bill. Robinson said he officially signed the measure in private in advance because it was necessary for certain provisions unrelated to the mercury ban to become law before today's start of the state's new fiscal year. Those provisions established some special funds within the Department of Health and Senior Services.

A co-sponsor of the bill, state Sen. Jason Crowell, R-Cape Girardeau, voted against the final version because of some extraneous provisions added late in the process involving the Medicaid program. However, Crowell is satisfied with the immunizations portion of the bill.

"There is no good reason that has ever been articulated to me -- other than more profits for the pharmaceutical companies -- that we need to have mercury preservatives in the vaccines we give to kids," Crowell said.

Although he would have liked to see a higher age threshold, Crowell said he anticipates the cutoff in the law will serve to encourage manufacturers to cease using mercury preservatives entirely rather than being forced to make both mercury-free and standard versions of immunizations.

The bill is SB 74.

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