From the December 2007 Idaho Observer:

Aluminum Toxicity: A misdiagnosed epidemic (Part 1)
The Back to Basics column is traditionally dedicated to rediscovering how herbs and elements from the natural world are gifts from God and have been put here to keep our minds and bodies healthy, and restore them to health when they become ill.

Aluminum is the third most abundant element (8 percent) in the Earth’s crust, exceeded by oxygen (47 percent) and silicon (28 percent). Because of its strong affinity to oxygen, aluminum never occurs as a metal in nature but is found only in the form of its compounds, such as alumina.

This strong affinity to oxygen also explains why it withstood all attempts to prepare it in its elemental form until well into the 19th century. The metal’s name is derived from alumen, the Latin name for alum.

Aluminum has been described as "a protoplasmic poison and a pernicious and persistent neurotoxin."

While the body is able to excrete aluminum in its natural form, the element, like mercury, is toxic to all lifeforms when concentrated in their tissues.

No living systems use aluminum as part of a biochemical process. It has a tendency to accumulate in the brain and, to a lesser extent, in the bones. It is considerably less toxic than mercury, arsenic, lead or cadmium, but it appears to be more persistent than any of them. The danger is one that only manifests itself over long periods of time. It is certainly prudent to avoid as many known sources as possible. However, in today’s world, aluminum cannot be completely avoided; it is in our water, our food, the air we breathe, the soil and numerous pharmaceutical products including vaccines.

The MSDS (Material Safety Data Sheet) on aluminum confirms that aluminum is a poison that accumulates in the brain and tissues of the body. The MSDS on aluminum states the following under Ingestion: "Chronic ingestion of aluminum may cause Aluminum related Bone Disease or aluminum-induced Osteomalacia with fracturing Osteodystrophy, microcytic anemia, weakness, fatigue, visual and auditory hallucinations, memory loss, speech and language impairment (dysarthria, stuttering, stammering, anomia, hypofluency, aphasia, and, eventually, mutism), epileptic seizures (focal or grand mal), motor disturbances (tremors, myoclonic jerks, ataxia, convulsions, asterixis, motor apraxia, muscle fatigue), dementia (personality changes, altered mood, depression, diminished alertness, lethargy, ‘clouding of the sensorium’, intellectual deterioration, obtundation, coma), and altered EEG.
In simple terms, the most notable symptoms of aluminum poisoning are diminishing intellectual function, forgetfulness, inability to concentrate and, in extreme cases, full blown dementia and Alzheimers. Aluminum toxicity also causes bone softening and bone mass loss, kidney and other soft tissue damage and, in large enough doses, can cause cardiac arrest."

This last "symptom" occurred with a political prisoner we are in touch with. He collapsed in the yard due to unknown causes and was finally diagnosed with incredibly high amounts of aluminum as being one of the culprits.

The last three decades have seen a steady increase of aluminum in our environment and diet. In 2006, the United States alone produced approximately 2.37 million tons of aluminum. In 1986, that figure was about 1.4 million tons. The total amount of aluminum in the average "healthy" adult today is from 50 to 150 mg. The estimated amount being ingested through food and water, excluding medications, ranges from 10 mg. to more than 100 mg. Specific nutrients such as ascorbates, sulfur and magnesium contribute to our body’s ability to excrete aluminum efficiently while a deficiency in these same nutrients will cause our body to deposit aluminum in our bones, lungs and brain (50 percent in our skeleton, 25 percent in lung tissue, 25 percent in the brain.)

According to the Nutrition Almanac, "Trace amounts of aluminum applied to the brain surface of animals resulted in seizures and fits. Other studies demonstrated that aluminum salts injected into the fluid surrounding the brain produced changes that are similar to those occurring in senile dementia. In further animal studies, cats given aluminum became slow learners at experimental tasks. The level of aluminum in the cats’ brains was equivalent to the amount in the brains of persons who have a type of senility called Alzheimer’s disease."

Some of the more common sources of "avoidable" aluminum:
1) cooking utensils—aluminum pots, teflon pans and foil-wrapped foods;
2) beverages in aluminum cans – the phosphoric acid in soft drinks leaches aluminum from the walls of the can;
3) added as an anti-caking agent to salt and sugar;
4) baking powder;
5) antiperspirants;
6) bleaching agent in white flour;
7) used as an emulsifier in some processed cheeses;
8) cake mixes, self-rising flour and frozen dough;
9) commercial teas;
10) toothpaste, sunscreen, lotions, powders/talcs and cosmetics;
11) infant formulas – soy formulas contain 10 times more aluminum than milk based formulas;
12) cigarette filters;
13) anti-acids, buffered aspirin and many other over-the-counter medications;
14) occupational—welding and smelting and;
15) vaccines.

Aluminum in consumer drugs is a huge problem. According to the Leading Edge Research Group, "aspirin is commonly buffered with aluminum hydroxide, aluminum glycinate and other aluminum compounds. Vaginal douches contain potassium aluminum sulfate, ammonium aluminum sulfate, and alum. Antacids contain aluminum hydroxide, magaldrate, dihydroxyaluminum, and aluminum oxide. Antidiarrheal drugs contain aluminum magnesium silicate and kaolin, an aluminum salt."

This same research group tells us that more than half of the water utilities use aluminum sulphate to clarify drinking water. The New Zealand website www.alternativehealth.co.nz claims that most of the utilities in Europe and the United States exceed the maximum safe amount of aluminum (100 mcg. per liter) and some of these by as much as 60 times the amount considered "safe."

In addition, one of the most toxic by-products of aluminum manufacturing is sodium fluoride which is added to many public water supplies. The other major source of fluorides for municipal water fluoridation is the phosphate fertilizer industry, with the EPA-certified "hazardous waste" products of fluorosilicic acids. In fact, I still have the empty 50 lb. bag of sodium fluorosilicate that was used to fluoridate the water in Bonners Ferry, Idaho, in 1997.

At the National Autism Association conference in Atlanta, Georgia November 8-11, 2007, Dr. David Ayoub gave a rousing presentation on the link between the accumulation of aluminum in the body and the development of autism spectrum disorders. He provided stunning documentation from diagnostic tests done on autistic children showing very high aluminum levels along with known symptoms of aluminum poisoning. He also brought up the Alzheimers/aluminum connection.

When going through Dr. Ayoub's PowerPoint presentation online, I decided to check out just how much aluminum was in such common products as antacids. I found that Maalox® extra strength contains 306 mg. of aluminum hydroxide for each dose and Mylanta®contains 500 mg. for each dose.

But the amount of aluminum being injected into infants as recommended by the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices is a jaw dropper.
The average birth weight for a baby is 7.4 lbs. (3.4 kg.) They receive soon after birth a hepatitis B vaccine that, if it happens to be Recombivax Hepatitis B from Merck, contains 500 mcg. of aluminum or 147 mcg. of aluminum per kg. of body weight. If the Energix vaccine from GlaxoSmithKline is administered, the pediatric dose is 250 mcg. of aluminum as aluminum hydroxide totaling 73.5 mcg. of aluminum per kg. of body weight.

The amount of time for these doses of aluminum to be eliminated by an infant’s immature kidneys is unknown, as is the time it takes for aluminum to transfer from muscular tissue to the bloodstream and, ultimately, into the brain. Meanwhile, the infant is continually dosed with aluminum through infant formula, and even in breastmilk but to a lesser degree.

The average baby visiting their pediatrician for the two-month, well-baby checkup weighs 9.25 lbs. (4.2 kg.) and could receive as much as 1475 mcg. of injected aluminum within 30 min. or 351 mcg. of aluminum per kg. of body weight. The breakdown of vaccines the pediatrician is supposed to administer follows: Hep B (250 to 500 mcg Al); Rotateq® (oral); DTaP (Infanrix® - 625 mcg Al and DAPTACEL® - 330 mcg Al); PCV - pneumococcal vaccine with 8 antigens (125 mcg. Al); Hib – haemophilus influenza type b (225 mcg. Al) and; IPV – inactivated polio vaccine.

Then, at four and six months of age, the bolus doses of aluminum continue to be injected.

What are the risks of this accumulating aluminum considering the constant exposure in utero, while feeding, breathing the air outside, and through baby products such as baby powder? Maybe you will want to minimize the number of injections your baby will receive by giving Pediarix®, a five in one shot. Think again. This shot contains as much as 850 mcg. of aluminum. What is most shocking is the fact that an infant’s body systems are all so immature and dependent on his mother’s "raw, enzyme-rich" milk (and love) for proper development. How can such a developing human withstand this toxic assault?

It is clear that we must avoid as much as possible ingesting or injecting aluminum through the means mentioned here. But what about the air we are breathing? Do all the aluminum and barium particles present in chemtrails have a more sinister role, completely unrelated to Dr. Strangelove’s attempt to slowdown global warming?

Stay tuned for Part 2 where we will discuss specific nutrients that help our bodies detoxify aluminum as well as the hidden agenda behind the proliferation of aluminum and fluoride, in our food, air and water.

In the meantime, the CDC, EPA and FDA continue to deny the toxic nature of aluminum in our environment and medications. As a result, several scholars have come forward to post known scientific studies on aluminum’s toxic nature. One excellent resource is www.frankmckinnon.com/aluminum Another one is the Leading Edge Research Group www.trufax.org where they have a three-part article on aluminum toxicity.