AIRED: April 20 2015– 11 am PST
TITLE: “Trace Amounts: Mercury and Its Role in the Autism Epidemic”
Trace Amounts tells the true story of filmmaker Eric Gladen’s journey coping with the neurological effects of mercury poisoning that he believes resulted from a vaccine shot that contained the mercury- based preservative thimerosal. As Eric investigates these effects with leading scientists, doctors, government officials, advocates, thought leaders, and families, he discovers strong evidence to suggest that thimerosal causes neurological damage for many who are injected with it, including a link to autism that has created a health crisis in the U.S. over the past eight decades.
As part of this evidence, Trace Amounts offers explosive commentary from a current CDC senior scientist who shares his thoughts on the CDC’s awareness of the link between thimerosal and the neurological damage it causes. The film also explores the alarming rate that the world population is exposed to mercury through industrial emissions, and the unsafe use and disposal of dental silver fillings and florescent light bulbs.
ABOUT ERIC GLADEN & SHILOH LEVINE
Eric Gladen majored in Engineering at Oregon State University. A tragic life experience in 2004 would change his focus to storytelling through documentary. Eric quit my career, moved into an RV, hired a production crew, and hit the road for years attending Autism conferences, filming Autism rallies, performing experiments with Scientists, interviewing everyone and anyone who would talk to us, and so much more. It then took me another 3 years working with my post-production team to piece everything together into what has become the feature documentary film Trace Amounts. The making of this film has not only opened Eric’s eyes to the bad things that have happened throughout history to cause this childhood epidemic, but also to many good things and good people who have been working so hard to stop this tragedy.
Shiloh Levine studied film production and theory at the University of Colorado at Boulder. Her earlier works are mainly experimental and documentary shorts. Since her arrival to Los Angeles, Shiloh has worked on several comedic films. She has also produced, written, and anchored for OTV and is currently focused on projects that inspire positive change. When Shiloh showed up for the interview she was greeted by a young man named Eric Gladen and his cat Wayne. His office was about two feet from hiskitchen sink, being that he lived and worked out of his 40 foot RV.
In 2001, Shiloh decided to take a respite from working in film and teach. She taught special education and children with Autism for several years. She delved into the mercury-Autism connection and cringed every time she saw a new student with Autism dripping with a mouth full of mercury fillings. For Shiloh, the film Trace Amounts is about raising awareness, informing and empowering the public to make positive change on every level, in the home, in schools, and in our local, and federal government.
