Demystifying Vaccine Ingredients - Aluminum

People, in general, tend to have a fairly poor grasp of chemistry. I don't blame them; there's an awful lot to learn and it can get pretty complex. To make matters worse, this lack of understanding is often coupled with what some would call "chemophobia" (not a very good name, as it's not a real phobia, nor does it generally rise to the level of debilitating pathology). In short, people tend to have an inherent, emotional distrust of "chemicals" and substances that have weird, hard to pronounce names or that tend to have negative associations. For example, who wants to ingest 7,8-Dimethyl-10-[(2S,3S,4R)-2,3,4,5-tetrahydroxypentyl]benzo[g]pteridine-2,4-dione? Maybe you'd prefer C₁₇H₂₀N₄O₆? But that chemical is in a lot of foods that we eat. Many processed foods, like cereals, pastas and cheeses contain it. Don't eat processed foods and eat nothing but an all-natural, organic, "healthy" diet? You still won't avoid that chemical, since it's also in a lot of leafy greens and legumes. Both of those are the same chemical, also known as riboflavin, or vitamin B2. What about potassium? It's a metal that, when exposed to water, reacts very violently, exploding almost immediately. If you are exposed to excessive amounts of potassium, you can develop muscle paralysis and heart palpitations. And yet, it is an essential part of our diet. Your body needs potassium in order to function properly.

When it comes to medical products, there is an even greater uncertainty around the ingredients. Not only do the problems above come into play, but add on distrust of faceless companies or unsavory associations, and the fear increases. I illustrated this in two of my previous posts, one on formaldehyde and one on monosodium glutamate. Some vaccines contain small amounts of these substances as a part of the manufacturing process. But there is a vaccine ingredient that gets even more bad press than either of those: aluminum (or aluminium, if you prefer). Let's take a look at this substance, how we're exposed, how our bodies deal with it, and its role in vaccines.