Robert F. Kennedy Jr. charges the Centers for Disease Control can't be trusted to assure Americans that childhood vaccines are safe. And, he says, autism may be triggered by the preservative thimerosal, which contains mercury and is used in the serums.

"I'm pro-vaccine. I had all six of my kids vaccinated. Vaccines do save lives. [But] we need a vaccine program where vaccines are safe," Kennedy, a longtime environmental activist, said Monday to Ed Berliner, host of "MidPoint" on Newsmax TV.

"We had a regulatory agency that had integrity and public credibility — and we don't have either of those things right now."

Kennedy, son of slain Sen. Bobby Kennedy, said he began his crusade following the disturbing research he uncovered as he traveled the country as attorney for the Natural Resources Defense Council and began suing power plants for mercury emissions.

"Mercury gets into fish and people eat the fish and we have government advisories that tell people not to eat fish or they're consumption advisories for fish," Kennedy said.

"I was having women coming up to me … saying you need to look at the mercury exposures coming from pediatric vaccines because that is by far the largest vector for mercury getting into our children.

"The head of the CDC is saying there is no connection between thimerosal and autism. I will challenge [them] to show me a single study that actually says that. In fact, I've put out a challenge that I will give any journalist who can show me a single study that shows that thimerosal is safe $10,000 — and there are literally hundreds and hundreds of studies."

Kennedy, editor of the book "Thimerosal: Let the Science Speak," published by Skyhorse — also said there are 39 studies that, in fact, conclude that thimerosal does cause autism.

"There is an argument for saying let's not look at something that might be unpleasant, but there's a much stronger argument in a democracy for saying in science we need to look at the hypothesis even if they are unpleasant," Kennedy said.

He argues that there are numerous financial conflicts of interest between the CDC and vaccine makers that have derailed it from its public health mission.

"There are four federal studies that have looked at CDC and said the vaccine program at CDC is a cesspool of corruption," Kennedy told Berliner.

"I'm for vaccination, but we should have vaccines without mercury. Just because I don't want mercury in my fish, does not mean I'm anti-fish. I'm pro-vaccine, I'm just against mercury."

"There are literally hundreds of studies by independent scientists and by CDC, FDA and the big universities and medical institutions in this country that show that thimerosal, which is a potent neurotoxin, [is] 50 times more neurotoxic than the methylmercury in fish. Why would we inject that into a child or a pregnant woman?"