Tuesday, September 30, 2008

Is their such a thing as an organic vaccine?!

As a newly expecting mom, I recently attended a seminar on vaccinations and couldn’t help but reflect on the parallels between toxins in personal care products and vaccinations. Could it be that the both industries have political and economic interests in the chemicals they're creating and promoting? Hmm.

With the flurry of news linking vaccines to autism and other behavioral problems, the numbers are staggering: the number of vaccines recommended by the Center For Disease Control (many of its studies supporting vaccination use are funded by big pharma and companies making billions of dollars off the creation of more vaccines – sorry I digress) has increased from 23 shots for children under 2 in 2002 to 36 shots in 2007. That’s an increase of 13 new vaccinations in just five years! And, reports are showing children aren't any healthier overall or protected from serious illness as a result, which may be due in part to the immune supressing nature of vaccines and the epidemic use of nonessential antiobiotics and antibiotics used in foods and toxins in personal care products. Expecting and nursing mothers then pass these toxins on to their babies preventing naturally occuring microrganisms from being effective right at birth.

Mercury and Thimerosal (labeled as a ‘poison’) are the most commonly recognized ingredients in vaccines, but what I found most interesting was the relationship between synthetic toxins used in vaccines to some of the same ingredients used in personal care products: Polysorbate 80 contains the carcinogenic contaminent 1-4 dixoane), other toxins include squalene, formaldehyde and phenol/phenoxyethanol are all used in vaccines. What’s wrong with this picture? We as parents and prospective parents must confront the rationalization that we’re ‘protecting’ our kids from disease by injecting them with known carcinogens under the guise that we're preventing disease, then turn around and smother our kids with highly toxic detergents and products causing potentially more harm than the diseases the vaccines are supposed to prevent.

Now, I’m not suggesting that your kids will get measles, mumps or chicken pox by using synthetic products. However, it’s proven that chemical ingredients and toxins are reducing our children’s immune systems and creating developmental, neurological, respiratory and other problems.

I’m not 100% sold on the decision to vaccinate or not vaccinate and will probably land somewhere in between; choosing to do some while avoiding others. However, my own research has come full circle and I feel even more empowered and strong in my belief that omitting or reducing the amount of toxins from synthetics sources and going organic is a wise choice. Bottom line: continue to learn, trust myself and make my own critical decisions. There’s more than just me depending on me now.