Aluminum is known for being neurotoxic, with mounting evidence that chronic exposure to aluminum is a factor in many neurological diseases, such as dementia, autism, and Parkinson’s disease.
A study from Keele University in the UK, showed high levels of aluminum in the brain of an individual exposed to aluminum at work, who later died from Alzheimer’s disease.
This case claims to be “the first direct link” between Alzheimer’s disease and elevated brain aluminum following occupational exposure, even though aluminum exposure has been implicated in the past with Alzheimer’s and a number of other neurological diseases.
After eight years of occupational exposure to aluminum dust, the 66 year-old Caucasian man had developed an aggressive form of early onset Alzheimer’s disease. Scientists concluded that “a prominent role for the olfactory system and lungs in the accumulation of aluminum in the brain.”
However, this wasn’t the first time high aluminum levels had been found in the tissues of someone who died from Alzheimer’s disease. Back in 2004 high levels of aluminum were found in the tissues of a British woman who died from early-onset Alzheimer’s.
The documentary, The Age of Aluminum, revealed the “dark side” of this toxic metal. The documentary explored the scientific links between aluminum and diseases such as breast cancer and neurological disorders. The film also exposed how aluminum mining and manufacturing have created acute ecological problems across the globe, leading to environmental disasters in Hungary, South Africa, and the UK.
In the film, neuroscientist Christopher Shaw reports: “Many researchers are beginning to accept that aluminum has some sort of role to play in neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s.
Whether it does in others is still an open question, but Alzheimer’s is really coming into focus and it’s fairly clear that the body burden of aluminum from all the sources to which humans are exposed may be contributing to Alzheimer’s disease.”
The average adult in the US consumes about seven to nine mg of aluminum per day in food, and a lesser amount from air and water, according to reports from the CDC. About one percent of the aluminum you ingest orally gets absorbed into your body, while the rest is moved out by your digestive tract (provided it’s functioning well).