Do flu shots have formaldehyde in them?

Answer 1

One of the flu vaccines approved for US use by the Federal Drug Administration (FDA) may have minuscule traces of formaldehyde that is used in the creation of the vaccine to inactivate ("kill") the virus. The vaccines approved for injection as flu shots in the US all use inactivated viruses in the vaccine. All three FDA approved A-H1N1/09 Pandemic flu vaccines use different chemicals in making the virus inactive. One uses formaldehyde for this part of the manufacturing process. After this use of the formaldehyde, the solution is further purified and most, if not all, of the formaldehyde is removed in that process. The ingredients list must include ANY traces of residual chemicals from manufacturing, no matter how insignificant. The final vaccine from one manufacturer may contain, in each 0.5 mL dose, residual amounts of formaldehyde, but not more than 100 mcg. (which has been proven safe by the recent human trials and approved by the FDA as negligible amounts). The use of this processing technique has been in place for years in the manufacturing process of some of the regular seasonal flu shots, and the incidence of any problems with those vaccines is extremely low and likely unrelated to the formaldehyde residual traces.

Everyone is encouraged to take the H1N1 immunization when it is made available to them. Like you can see when reading the label on other medicines, or even on a package of cookies at the grocery store, preservatives and other chemicals are a part of the manufacturing of items in everyday life, and when proven safe over time, there is no reason to be overly concerned or take the higher risk of catching the serious disease by refusing the immunization.

Answer 2

Some of the brands of flu vaccines have traces of formaldehyde left after it was used to weaken or "kill" the virus used to create the vaccine. It is an insignificant amount. However, some brands of the vaccines do not have formaldehyde since they use other chemicals to weaken the virus. See the related question in the related questions section below for a full list of the ingredients used to make a flu vaccine brand by brand.