Canard Thursday: Vaccines Contain Antifreeze
ca-nard
—noun
[kuh-nard; Fr. kuh-nar]
- a false or baseless, usually derogatory story, report, or rumor.
- Cookery. a duck intended or used for food.
The term probably came from the French phrase: “vendre un canard à moitié”, meaning “to sell half a duck.”
The internet is perhaps the greatest communication medium ever conceived. Anyone with access to a computer and a telephone line (or wireless connection) can send information hither and yon in a matter of seconds. Along with the obvious benefits, this incredibly democratic medium brings the inevitable pitfalls, one of which is the phenomenon of the incredible reproducing canard.
In an effort to stanch the ever-increasing catarrh of propaganda, anecdata, and untrue truisms clogging the Web, I’m inaugurating a series of canard-busting posts, researched to the best of my meager ability, and launched into the ether every Thursday (more or less.)
Let it be remembered that I did my part to combat the evils of misinformation wherever I (thought) I found it.
For this inaugural edition, let’s start with one of my favorites on a favorite topic: vaccination.
Canard: OMG! Vaccines contain antifreeze!!!!!
A favorite of anti-vaccinationists , this canard really grew legs when it was featured in a full-page advertisement in USA Today, taken out by that wellspring of all things anti-vaccination, Generation Rescue, and parroted by GR’s spokesmodel and board member, Jenny McCarthy(PhD–Google U):
“Take the crap out. Get rid of the ether, the antifreeze, the mercury, the aluminum,” McCarthy said. “They’re just cheap preservatives. I’d pay four times as much for a clean vaccine!”[1]
Leaving aside for a moment Ms. McCarthy’s assumption that everyone else in the world is willing and able to pay a premium for “clean” vaccines, let’s look at her assertion that vaccines contain antifreeze.
Many types of antifreeze contain ethylene glycol, a chemical that can help cool an engine through the process of connective heat transfer. It is relatively toxic to humans; in its pure form a dose of approximately 1.4mL/kg–about 3.4 oz. in adults– is considered lethal.[2]
Ethylene glycol has been implicated in many poisonings, particularly of children and animals, because it is sweet, and victims often ingest toxic doses quickly.
Vaccines do not contain ethylene glycol.
The ingredient anti-vaccinationists are presumably referring to is polyethylene glycol. It has a low toxicity[3] , and is used to kill the influenza virus in one brand of vaccine,[4] and as a purifying agent in the production of several other vaccines. It is also used in skin cream and toothpaste, as well as a number of medications because, among other salutary effects, it can reduce toxicity of other components of those medications. It is also used in the treatment of drug overdose.
To sum up, it appears to this observer that anti-vaccinationists are confusing ethylene glycol with polyethelyene glycol (“Carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide—wassa difference?”).
In claiming that vaccines contain “antifreeze,” folks like Generation Rescue and their spokesmodel Jenny McCarthy are demonstrating, at best, profound ingnorance, and at worst, intentional deception.
My Google-fu is better than Jenny’s Google-fu:
- 1. Watson, Jaye. “McCarthy: Vaccines Cause Autism”. Retrieved on 2009-04-09.
- 2. Brent J (2001). “Current management of ethylene glycol poisoning”. Drugs 61 (7): 979–88. doi:10.2165/00003495-200161070-00006. PMID 11434452.
- 3. FAS 14-JECFA 23/76. Retrieved on 2009_04-09 at 2009-04-09.
- 4. Grabenstein, JD (2006) “Vaccine Excipient & Media Summary”, Immunofacts: Vaccines & Immunologic Drugs. St. Louis, MO: Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc. ISBN-10:1574392514. ISBN-13: 9781574392517.
For more, and better, explanations on this topic, check out the following awesome blog posts:
“Toxic Myths About Vaccines” at Science-Based Medicine.
“Green This” at Left Brain/Right Brain.
“A Fair and Square PEG” at Mainstream Parenting.
“Cries the antivaccinationist: Why are we injecting TOXINS into our babies?” at Respectful Insolence.
Here is the MSDS on 2-Phenoxyethanol, aka Ethylene glycol monophenyl ether.
http://www.sciencelab.com/xMSDS-2_Phenoxyethanol-9926486
Here is the CDC excipient table listing the childhood vaccines that contain 2-Phenoxyethanol.
http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/pubs/pinkbook/downloads/appendices/B/excipient-table-1.pdf
The debate is not whether ethylene glycol exists in vaccines. It does, period. The debate should be on whether this type of ethylene glycol and this amount of ethylene glycol can cause the same adverse reactions as those normally associated with car antifreeze.
Thanks for the information on the high toxicity of ethylene glycol versus low toxicity of polyethylene glycol.
However, the question, “Do vaccines contain antifreeze” is not simple. True one can answer that vaccines contain polyethylene glycol and that more vaccines will contain this “food additive” and antifreeze ingredient in the future and for the purpose of acting as, you guessed it, an antifreeze to deter the freezing of vaccines. One can also aswer that vaccines do NOT contain the COMPOUND called “ethylene glycol.” But ethylene glycol is not only the name of a compound but a class of compounds. One compound in the class of ethylene Gycols is 2-Phenoxyethanol AKA ethylene glycol phenyl ether. This compound is commonly added to vaccines. The fact that ethylene glycol phenyl ether has as a part of its name “ethylene glycol”, and likewise ethylene glycol is an integral part of its chemical formula has lead individuals on both sides of the pro and anti vaccination issue to state that vaccines contain antifreeze. A former FDA investigator lists: “Phenoxyethanol: EDF Suspected – developmental toxicant, reproductive toxicant (aka: Antifreeze). Less hazardous than most chemicals in 3 ranking systems.” A longer explanation is posted at: http://vaclib.org/intro/antifreeze.htm
Best Regards, Dewey Duffel