Mercury, autism, and infant formula?

"Algae eat up mercury in Chinese lake," a title of an article in Geotimes of March 2008. "Nutrient enrichment from agricultural runoff and sewage into lake ecosystems can produce large seasonal increases in algae, called algae blooms..." Algae scavenge arsenic and mercury in the water. The algae are eaten by fish, and we eat the fish. Thus, we are eating our pollution and suffering the health consequences of metal contamination. Mercury is toxic and can cause brain and neurological injury. It is especially dangerous for pregnant women and young children. Mercury, besides occurring naturally, is the product of coal burning factories and electric power plants. It becomes airborne and then falls into our lakes, rivers, and oceans.
Martek Bioscience is using algae to produce the DHA in baby formulas. I find myself wondering about the availability of non-polluted waters for generating large quantities of DHASCO (the oil produced by the algae).
Fermentation tanks for algae must have water. Where does the water come from--tap water? Is the water tested for toxins everytime a new batch of algae is produced? Who monitors the situation, since algae is known to scavenge heavy metals? Two of Martek's production plants are located in areas near coal burning power plants (Winchester, Kentucky and Kingstree, South Carolina). Kingstree is in the Pee Dee region of South Carolina known to have particularly high contamination of mercury. So how does industry keep an eye on this situation, particularly since this substance is going into infant formulas for premature infants, babies, and as a supplement for pregnant women? How does the US government monitor the situation? Forty percent of mercury emissions in the US are caused by coal burning power plants. Eastern coals have a high chlorine content. This high level of chlorine makes mercury more water soluble.
"Grown in Martek's labs in 130-gallon vats of water surrounded by fluorescent bulbs [broken fluorescent bulbs leak mercury] and injected with a mix of nitrates, potassium, phosphates, carbon dioxide, and other elements."
and
"Of the 10,000 to 30,000 strains of algae believed to exist by 1988, Martek's scientists had worked with 50-100 purified strains, manipulating the cells' manufacture of fats, proteins, and other products to yield food colors, nutritional supplements, lubricants, and chemicals for use in medical diagnoses."
a company profile-history
http://www.referenceforbusiness.com/history2/8/Martek-Bioscience...
Note the words, "Manipulating the cells' manufacture..." does that mean genetic engineering? Martek Bioscience states they do not genetically engineer DHASCO. The rise of autism in children has coincided with the rise in vaccinations for infants, but also with the use of infant formulas containing these manipulated oils. Many parents believe that it was vaccinations that caused their child's autism. Yet no one questions the use of a manufactured food for infants as a cause of autism. Well, except a father called Mike, who wrote me over a year ago asking questions about these oils and giving me references/research regarding his concerns. He has written the FDA, the NIH, wanting answers to the cause of autism, driven by his own son's autism. I always believed it was the vaccines (having had children who had mild to severe reactions to vaccinations). So it was quite easy to believe that the mercury in vaccinations is causing the rise of autism. But Mike and his questions and his references to studies got me wondering about whether autism might be caused by our infant formula with its new space-age oils.
Do these oils cause oxidative stress in the body? Do they cause mitochondrial dysfunction which causes autism?
Mike sent these references which I would like to share with readers on studies regarding of DHA as a potential inducer of neuronal cell death.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2659540/pdf/nihms-94427.pdf

http://www.hriptc.org/pdfs/Autism%20Phenotype%20Brain%20Tissue%200108.pdf

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2459249/

Most babies in the US have had infant formula at one time or another (there is not much exclusive breastfeeding due to interventions in hospitals where babies are born or by lack of understanding of its importance by parents). Many parents use the powdered infant formula because it is less expensive than ready-to-feed or concentrate. So the water source when using powder is important. How free of heavy metal contamination is the water used by parents for mixing infant formula?
Recently an article linked jaundice in newborns to autism. Is it the jaundice? Or is it the use of infant formula to treat the jaundice? Breastfed babies are often taken off the breast and given infant formula to bring down the levels of jaundice. Many of those babies never go back to the breast (in part because their is an implication that the jaundice was caused by breastfeeding) Premature infants are also more likely to be autistic. Most premature infants get some form of infant formula. In fact infant formula with Martek oils was first given to premature infants.
I believe that autism could be caused by a variety of causes: a genetically predisposed infant, vaccinations, infant formula, a mother who was exposed to heavy metal contamination. All these factors could be linked to autism. I believe that we need to take a harder look at infant formula and these novel oils to determine whether our new food technology is creating autism. For too long the public has assumed the safety of infant formula.
Copyright 2010 Valerie W. McClain

Autism, infant formula with Martek's oils

Awhile ago, a father whose son was autistic contacted me. He believes there is a relationship between his son's autism and the infant formula his son consumed. In particular, his concerns were about the DHA and ARA oils manufactured by Martek that are placed in almost all infant formulas on the market. He has written the FDA, various government agencies, and researchers looking for answers. And more importantly to register his belief that his son was injured by these additives that are used in over 90% of all formulas manufactured. When he first contacted me, I was set in my thinking that autism was related to vaccine damage. And I haven't changed that belief, yet his concerns, his questions made me start to question what I thought I knew. According to Wikipedia the steep rise in cases of autism began in the years 1996 thru 2007. What changed during those years besides vaccinations? What about infant formula? And particularly infant formula with the added Martek "novel"oils? When was Martek's oils introduced into infant formula? According to Martek's company history, the first preterm infant formula with these oils was on the market in 1994 and the first term infant formula in 1997.
http://www.martek.com/About/History.aspx
In 2001 Martek declared that the oils were GRAS and the FDA affirmed that position. The FDA GRAS system is no longer an approval system but rather an affirmation system. Still people assume the safety of the oils since the FDA had no questions regarding Martek's declaration. The safety of new ingredients in this system are learned after the fact (meaning the consumer is the guinea pig) and only by consumer complaint or a massive incident with injuries and deaths (Chinese infant formula contamination tragedy). With infant formula it is up to the parent or caregiver to make the complaint. The US FDA system is dependent upon a highly literate/articulate and computer savy parent/consumer. The industry does its own safety evaluation and that is like allowing a student who is taking a test to score his/her own paper. Some students will be honest. Similiarly some manufacturers will be honest in the GRAS process and some won't be.
There is a current belief in some research circles that "substances released in the gut give rise to autism." There has been a recognition that autistic children seems to have "metabolic abnormalities and gastrointestinal problems--gut pain and diarrhea."
The New Scientist, "Gut bacteria may contribute to autism" by Linda Geddes June 2010
The recognition that bacteria in feces of children with autism is different than children without autism has created a new diagnostic test for autism. The belief is that the gut bacteria is creating a toxin that interferes with brain development. In particular researchers are looking at the clostridium bacteria. A study done in 2002 in Clin Infect Dis 2002 by Finegold et al. called "Gastrointestinal microflora studies in late-onset autism states, "The number of clostridial spores found in stools of children with autism was greater than in stools of control children." In the 1980's research linked clostridium difficile with SIDS and with the possibility of an association to infant formula feeding. "Infants fed formula were nearly four times more likely to carry C. difficile than were those exclusively breast-fed (62 versus 16%). whereas breastfed infants also receiving formula or solids had an intermediate rate of colonization (35%)."
Pediatrics, "Clostridium difficile in Normal Infants and Sudden Infant Death Syndrome: An association with Infant Formula Feeding" by Cooperstock et al. vol 70 no1 July 1982, p.91-95
What we know, "Human milk populates the intestine's with Bifidobacteria and Lactobacilli, generating a very different gut flora than that seen after formula feeding." US Patent #6682744
There are many patents on harvesting bacteria from breastfed infants poop or the sugars of human milk to create prebiotics and probiotics.
What is Clostridium difficile? Its a bacteria that some people get after taking antibiotics, it causes a very severe diarrhea. Human milk has factors that are active against C. difficile (in vitro): secretory IgA, Carbohydrate, free secretory component, and unidentified factors.
Research shows us that the stools of the breastfed infant and the formula-fed infant are very different. More formula fed infants have the bacteria clostridium difficile in their stools. Researchers believe that this bacteria creates a toxin (possibly causing death from SIDS-research in the 80's). The bacteria is now implicated in autism. And we know that more infant formula infants have this bacteria in their feces than exclusively breastfed infants. Is there a relationship between this bacteria/toxin and autism? Is exclusive breastfeeding protective against autism? Are there toxins created by ingesting Martek's DHA/ARA oils in baby formulas, foods? What do novel ingredients,these oils, do to the gut of the newborn? Create a leaky gut? A gut susceptible to bacterial invasion? One would suspect that mammals who ingest the milks of other mammals rather than their own species have damage done to their intestines. The Pharm Woman patent owned by Baylor College of Medicine, states that the growth of the gut (activation of the DNA) occurs when mammals are feed their own species milk. Short gut syndrome is caused by the use of infant formula--which means digestion is impaired. We do unknown damage to newborn mammals--particularly the human mammal when artificial milks are used. Damage to the gut, damage to the brain from the intestines inability to colonize the good bacteria. A gut colonized by an overgrowth of the wrong bacteria creates sickness and death and perhaps even autism?
Copyright 2010 Valerie W. McClain