Aluminum: An FDA GRAS Neurotoxin

By Barbara H. Peterson

Farm Wars

I just received this comment from a reader:

I’m on the eastern shore of MD. Recently had my soil tested for aluminum. Results were 1730ppm. Is that bad? Can someone tell me who is up on aluminum toxicity? (j. sisitsky)

Therefore, I did a bit of research on aluminum in food, soil, and water, and found that aluminum is extremely toxic to both man and plant in high doses, and 1730 ppm is a very high amount. Frank Hartman has this to say:

“From the earliest days of food regulation, the use of alum (aluminum sulphate) in foods has been condemned. It is universally acknowledged as a poison in all countries. If the Bureau of Chemistry had been permitted to enforce the law … no food product in the country would have any trace of … any aluminum or saccarin. No soft drink would contain caffeine or hebromin; no bleached flour would be in interstate commerce. Our food and drugs would be wholly without adulteration … and the health of our people would be vastly improved and their life greatly extended.”

From History of crime against the Food Laws (1929) by Dr. Wiley, the prime mover behind the original Pure Food Law and Director of the FDA. He resigned in disgust in 1912 over exceptions granted to the law and lack of enforcement.

Aluminum has been exempted from tesitng for safety by the FDA under a convoluted logic wherein it is classified as GRAS. (Generally Regarded As Safe.) It has never been tested by the FDA on its safety and there are NO restrictions whatever on the amount or use of aluminum.

There are over 2000 references in the National Library of Medicine on adverse effects of alumium. The following were extracted to provide a small sample of the range of toxicity of aluminum. (Read more…)

The FDA verifies this claim that aluminum is considered GRAS, or generally recognized as safe by the FDA:

Source: FDA

The “1” designation comes from the following legend:

Please note that aluminum receives the least likely to be hazardous now or in the future designation.

Flying in the face of reason, the FDA is responsible for allowing this and other dangerous substances in our food supply by labeling them as GRAS in order to dupe the public into thinking that what the mega-corporations controlling this rogue agency are feeding us in the name of higher profits is safe to consume.

Aluminum toxicity occurs when a person breathes in high levels of aluminum from the air, or stores high levels of aluminum in the body.

Aluminum is the most abundant metal in the earth’s crust, and is present in the environment combined with other elements (eg, oxygen, silicon, fluorine). Exposure to aluminum is usually not harmful, but exposure to high levels can cause serious health problems.

Symptoms

If you experience any of these symptoms, do not assume it is because of aluminum toxicity. These symptoms may be caused by other, less serious health conditions. If you experience any one of them, see your physician, especially if you have kidney disease or are on dialysis .

Muscle weakness
Bone pain
Fractures that do not heal, especially in ribs and pelvis
Altered mental status
Premature osteoporosis
Anemia
Impaired iron absorption
Impaired immunity
Seizures
Dementia
Delayed growth in children
Spinal deformities: scoliosis or kyphosis (NYU)

Another avenue to consider is that tests for aluminum in our soil and water are now consistently coming back at levels far exceeding “safe” due to chemtrail spraying.

So exactly what does this excess aluminum do to plants?

Aluminum Toxicity

Excess soluble/available aluminum (Al+++) is toxic to plants and causes multiple other problems. Some of the more important problems include…

• Direct toxicity, primarily seen as stunted roots

• Reduces the availability of phosphorus (P), through the formation of Al-P compounds

• Reduces the availability of sulfur (S), through the formation of Al-S compounds

• Reduces the availability of other nutrient cations through competitive interaction

The primary damage caused by excess Al+++ is in damage to plant roots, as seen in these wheat seedlings. Diagnosing this type of damage requires that growers inspect the root systems of their crops or other plants. Of course, when plants have damaged root systems, many other above-ground symptoms are likely. One of the most common will be P-deficiency. However, since Al-toxicity occurs in strongly acid soils, plants may also exhibit deficiency symptoms of calcium (Ca), magnesium (Mg), or other nutrients. They might also show symptoms of manganese (Mn) toxicity, which is common when the soil pH is too low. Finally, poor root development reduces the plants ability to absorb water. Plant problems that damage the roots are difficult to diagnose with leaf analysis. This is because the uptake of these toxins is somewhat self-limiting, due to the root damage that they cause. This is most common with Al and copper (Cu) toxicities.

Very little Al+++ in the soil solution is required to cause damage to most plants. Few, if any plants grown for commercial purposes in this country will tolerate more than 1.0 ppm of soluble Al+++, and most will have some problems at levels greater than 0.5 ppm. (Spectrum Analytic)

Aluminum in the water supply has also been linked to Alzheimer’s. This quote refers to aluminum routinely added to the public water supply as a clearing agent:

An area in which myriad studies have been conducted regarding aluminum as an environmental factor is the correlation between the number of diagnosed AD cases and the aluminum levels in public drinking water. The reason aluminum is added to drinking water is most commonly as a clearing agent1. The amount of aluminum present in drinking water has been recommended to be below 200 micrograms per liter by the World Health Organization.

In a study conducted by D.R.C. McLachlan and colleagues, it was found that a relationship did exist between the number of diagnosed AD cases and the level of aluminum present in the drinking water supply. This study concluded that between 15,180 and 26,910 of the estimated 66,000 to 117,000 cases of AD might have been prevented if the aluminum concentration in the municipal water supply had been kept below 100 micrograms per liter2. A similar study performed by H. Jacqmin and associates using different variables showed no significant effect for aluminum in drinking water when pH was not included in the experiment model, but showed a small relationship between aluminum and AD when pH was also taken into consideration3.

Several other studies have shown no relationship to exist between AD and aluminum, for example, those lead by DJ Wood and A. Wettstein4,5. Their conclusion, that the silicon in the water reacted with the aluminum to reduce the neurotoxicity presented by aluminum, concurs with the previous conclusion by Birchell et al.. Birchell et al. suggested in his report that the inverse relationship between soluble aluminum and soluble silicon shows that maintaining a constant level of approximately 3 milligrams per liter of soluble silicon in drinking water would be enough to protect the population against neurotoxic effects of the absorption of all forms of aluminum in the diet6. (Arizona.edu)

So what are some recommendations? Just because the FDA says it is safe, does not make it safe to eat or drink. Try to avoid as many sources of aluminum as you can.

If you are concerned that your soil is contaminated, here are some tips from Spectrum Analytic:

When the soil pH is below 5.0, soluble Al is almost certainly a problem.

When the soil pH is between 5.0 and 5.5, soluble Al likely a small problem

When the soil pH is between 5.5 and 6.0, soluble Al is not likely to be a significant problem

When the soil pH is above 6.0, soluble Al is almost certainly not a problem.

Lime is the solution to excess soluble Al in the topsoil

Gypsum may be needed to correct excess soluble Al in the subsoil

Removing Aluminum from water:

Aluminum may be removed from water by means of ion exchange or coagulation/ flocculation. Aluminum salts are applied in water treatment for precipitation reactions. Adding aluminum sulphate and lime to water causes aluminum hydroxide formation, which leads to settling of pollutants. Hydroxide is water insoluble, therefore only 0.05 ppm dissolved aluminum remains. This is below the legal limit for drinking water of the World Health Organization (WHO), of 0.2 ppm aluminum. (Lenntech)

Image Source: Cheezburger.com

So, what does this information tell us? It is becoming increasingly clear on a daily basis that it is up to us to protect ourselves, because if we rely on government agencies such as the FDA to do it, we may just as well pour ourselves a nice big glass of GRAS poison and have a toast to our premature and highly painful demise.

© 2010 Barbara H. Peterson

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