Health hazards of aluminium

While it is a common ingredient in the earth’s crust, aluminium is bound mostly to silica in nature and it is not available in the free form.  It has no demonstrated benefit in humans but rather damages the blood brain barrier, activates brain inflammation and depresses function of mitochondria which generate energy for cells and regulate cellular metabolism.  Aluminium in the body is unlikely to be benign, though it may appear as such due to the inherent robustness of human physiology. Aluminum can accumulate in the body and has the potential to do harm wherever it ends up.  At some point in time the accumulation of aluminium in the brain will achieve a toxic threshold. 

Aluminum's toxicity to the brain and nervous system has been well documented for more than a century.  Aluminium poisoning, with loss of memory, tremor and jerkiness, was first reported in 1921.  Aluminium is accepted as a known neurotoxin, for example being the cause of renal dialysis encephalopathy (leading to speech disorders, dementia and convulsions) and its accumulation in human brain tissue at any age can only contribute to any ongoing disease state or toxicity.  It has been implicated as a factor in patients with senile and pre-senile dementia of the Alzheimer type and in parkinsonism-dementia.

Manufacturers continue routinely and unnecessarily to add aluminium to their products and some water authorities continue to treat water with aluminium sulphate. Many of our foods, vaccinations, medications, baby products, cosmetics, cleaning products and even soft furnishings contain aluminum. 

Aluminium appears to cause oxidative stress in the brain. It does this in part by increasing inflammatory cytokines. These proteins are crucial cellular messengers that can lead to inflammation. Some neuroscientists now believe that Alzheimer’s disease is largely an inflammatory disease and that aluminium may play a role in its aetiology.

Dermal absorption of topically applied antiperspirant aluminium salts has been demonstrated through intact mouse skin and the skin of the human underarm. Aluminium in the form of aluminium chloride or aluminium chlorhydrate has been shown capable of interfering with the function of oestrogen receptors of human breast cancer cells both in terms of ligand binding and oestrogen-regulated gene expression.

Chronic or cumulative exposure to aluminium, reflected by increased levels in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and serum, may be one environmental factor in the pathogenesis and pathophysiology of MS [multiple sclerosis], Parkinson’s disease (PD) and AD [Alzheimer’s disease].

According to scientists from Keele University in Staffordshire, recent studies (up to 2016) have confirmed that aluminium does play a role, in some, if not all, cases of Alzheimer’s disease. They also reported that the brains of five deceased individuals who were diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder were found to contain among the highest levels of the toxic metal aluminium ever recorded.

There has been increased use of aluminium as an adjuvant in vaccines. Numerous studies provide compelling evidence that injected aluminium can be detrimental to health. Aluminium is capable of remaining in cells long after vaccination and may cause neurologic and autoimmune disorders. During early development, the child’s brain is more susceptible to toxins and the kidneys are less able to eliminate them. Thus, children have a greater risk than adults of adverse reactions to aluminium in vaccines. The Centers for Disease Control cites an FDA study which found that an infant could be exposed to more than four milligrams of aluminium from vaccines in the first year of life, plus the aluminium they have already received in utero (out of the nine vaccinations covering 13 diseases that are currently being offered to pregnant women, five contain aluminium).