Study Shows Infant Formulas are Badly Contaminated with Aluminum

Monday, September 20, 2010 by: Aaron Turpen
Tags: infant formulas, aluminum, health news

(NewsTarget) The aluminum content of several of the most popular brands of infant formulas is high - especially for soy-based and lactose intolerant substitutes. This should be as frightening to parents as is the presence of aluminum in vaccinations, since an infant's digestive system is more vulnerable to systemic permeation (which is why mother's milk is able to impart many things that otherwise can't).

A new research article from Keele University in Staffordshire demonstrates the vulnerability of infants to early exposure of aluminum and was published in BMC Pediatrics.¹

Drs. Shelle-Anne M. Burrell and Chrisopher Exley measured the aluminum content of several milk-based and soy-based formulas (both milks and powders) and found concern with the very high aluminum content in each type and brand. They found concentrations of up to 700 micrograms per liter. This means the infant would be ingesting up to 600 micrograms of aluminum daily.

These concentrations are about forty times higher than what is found in human breast milk and are much higher than that which is allowed in municipal drinking water. Most disconcerting of all, the highest concentration was in a formula made for pre-term (premature) babies.

Because formula manufacturers are not required to measure or filter aluminum content from their milks and because they claim that they are not adding it themselves, it is considered a contaminant. The source remains unknown but is most likely the aluminum equipment used to pasteurize, process, and store the formulas, including packaging. The Soybean plant readily absorbs aluminum from acidic soils and it has long been known that commercial dairy milk is often high in aluminum content as well.

No clinical studies into the near- or long-term effects of aluminum in infants were found, so no science-based evidence can be given as to aluminum's direct effect on infants. It is, however, known that aluminum is associated with neurological disorders such as Alzheimer's.² Aluminum is a non-essential element to human nutrition.

Drs. Burrell and Exley do point out that there is preliminary research showing not only that infants have a heightened vulnerability to toxins, but that aluminum has also been shown to have both an immediate and delayed toxicity in infants, especially those born pre-term.

Many of the major brands sold in the UK are also sold in the U.S., and since the researchers tested 15 different formulas, it's likely that many of those tested are sold on American shelves as well. At birth, infants are given a hypodermic containing aluminum (Hepatitis B) and many then start drinking aluminum-contaminated formula. Over the first two years of their lives, infants will receive up to 36 vaccines (most containing aluminum) while drinking gallons of infant formulas that are likely contaminated with aluminum as well.

Given that the autism rate is nearing 1 in 100 in America, isn't it time we start looking at what environmental factors could be behind this? It's obvious that the FDA, the CDC, WHO, both the British and Canadian Health Services, and all manner of governmental bodies aren't interested in tackling this issue. So it's up to us, the People, to stand up and do something about it.

Stop buying these contaminated products! Stop patronizing vaccination-loving doctors and hospitals! Stop eating factory-farmed "food"! There are non-contaminated, organic baby formulas (made without GMOs or BPA packaging); there are doctors who will not force the vaccination issue and who even understand our concerns; and there are local farmers and gardeners who have excellent, nutritious food without all of the contamination and processing. Give your business to those people who care!

Resources:
1 - There is (still) too much aluminium in infant formulas by Dr. Shelle-Anne M. Burrell and Dr. Christopher Exley, BMC Pediatrics, Aug. 31, 2010

2 - Brain aluminum distribution in Alzheimer's disease and experimental neurofibrillary degeneration. by DR Crapper, et all
and
Alzheimer's disease: X-ray spectrometric evidence of aluminum accumulation in neurofibrillary tangle-bearing neurons by DP Perl and AR Brody

3 - Aluminum is Potential Cause of Thirty-Five Million with Dementia Worldwide by Kim Evans, NaturalNews

About the author

Aaron Turpen is a professional writer living in Wyoming in the USA. His blogs cover organic/sustainable living and environmental considerations (AaronsEnvironMental.com) and the science debunking mainstream medical and proving alternatives (HiddenHealthScience.com).