I recently saw a post online which called into question the safety of the Moderna vaccine through an interesting argument. One of the ingredients in the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine is the ionizable amino lipid SM-102. [Source]
Information about this chemical can be found on this website. As expected, the description of this chemical is the following:
SM-102 is an ionizable amino lipid that has been used in combination with other lipids in the formation of lipid nanoparticles.1 Administration of luciferase mRNA in SM-102-containing lipid nanoparticles induces hepatic luciferase expression in mice. Formulations containing SM-102 have been used in the development of lipid nanoparticles for delivery of mRNA-based vaccines.
However, as a standalone chemical it seems to have many safety warnings and hazards. This information is available on the accompanying safety data sheet for SM-102. Here are some of the listed hazards:
WARNING This product is not for human or veterinary use.
H310 Fatal in contact with skin.
H351 Suspected of causing cancer
H372 Causes damage to the central nervous system, the kidneys, the liver and the respiratory system through prolonged or repeated exposure.
Now, my presumption is that these hazards are supposed to be overly cautionary, and also only apply to the direct handling of the raw chemical. But many people do not see it this way, and thus are reasonably skeptical about the safety of the Moderna vaccine. So, I have a couple questions:
Questions.
- Are all these hazards relevant to the chemical's pharmacological use as part of an mRNA vaccine? Why?
- How are these hazards determined in the first place?
- Are there examples of other chemicals with similar hazards/warnings, which are ingredients in common medical drugs?
- Opposite to the previous question, are there chemicals with little to no hazards/warnings, which nevertheless form key components to actually dangerous drugs?