(NewsNation) — A new study out of Denmark challenges claims that aluminum in childhood vaccines poses health risks.
Researchers analyzed the health records of more than 1.2 million children over a 24-year period. The study, published Monday in the Annals of Internal Medicine, found no evidence linking aluminum exposure from vaccines to any increase in chronic conditions such as asthma, autism, or autoimmune diseases.
Aluminum salts are commonly used in vaccines as adjuvants to enhance immune response, according to the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.
While critics have long raised concerns about the potential health hazards of aluminum, the study found no association between vaccine-related aluminum and any of the 50 chronic conditions examined, including 36 autoimmune disorders, nine conditions related to allergies or asthma and five neurodevelopmental disorders.
Researchers used Denmark’s nationwide registry to track vaccine history and medical outcomes for children born between 1997 and 2018, following them through the end of 2020. Researchers assessed aluminum exposure by age two and compared outcomes across varying exposure levels. The study didn’t include unvaccinated children.
Only 1.2% of children received no “aluminum-adsorbed vaccines” before age 2. The rest received varying doses, with total aluminum exposure ranging from 0.125 mg to 1.00 mg per dose. The median exposure across the cohort was approximately 3 mg.
Researchers acknowledge they can’t completely rule out the possibility of a small increased risk for rare disorders.