Deborah Kotz - Vaccine effectiveness reduced by common environmental toxin, Harvard study finds
February 9, 2012 Vaccines, we’re told, aren’t 100 percent effective. That’s why some of us come down with the flu after getting a flu shot. Sometimes, our immune system doesn’t mount a strong enough response to an immunization, so defenses are down when a pathogen invades.
Now a new Harvard School of Public Health study suggests this may sometimes be due to exposure to certain environmental toxins. The researchers measured levels of perfluorinated compounds (PFCs) -- found in food packaging, stain-resistant carpets, and nonstick pans -- in nearly 600 children who lived in the Faroe Islands in the Norwegian Sea and found that those who had the highest levels of PFCs had a 50 percent lower reaction to tetanus and diphtheria vaccines, according to the study published in yesterday’s Journal of the American Medical Association.
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