There are also indications that the Al adjuvants in vaccines could be
causally associated with the symptoms used to diagnose ASD
(Tomljenovic and Shaw, 2011; Shaw and Tomljenovic, 2013; Miller,
2016). Thus, a recent study reported a positive correlation between the
levels of the toxic metals including Al and the severity of the ASD
symptoms as assessed by using the Childhood Autism Rating Scale
(CARS) (Metwally et al., 2015). According to numerous studies, the
interaction of Al in ASD patients was attributed to suppression of cellular
energy synthesis and elevation of the potential neurotoxic activities
in ASD children.
It has been proposed that Al exposure may contribute as an environmental
factor to cause ASD when taken in its elemental or salt
form via oral ingestion and/or as adjuvant (Morris et al., 2017). Numerous
studies highlight the relevance of Al exposure and development
of ASD (Table 1). For example, Shaw and Tomljenovic (2013) have
reported the potential involvement of Al adjuvants in the development
of ASD. They found the prevalence of ASD in areas where exposure to
vaccine-derived Al is high. READ STUDY: Toxic metal pollution and ASD. Environmental Research 2018
VLA Comment: Aluminum adjuvants are used in vaccines such as hepatitis A, hepatitis B, diphtheria–tetanus-containing vaccines, Haemophilus influenzae type b, and pneumococcal vaccines, but they are not used in the live, viral vaccines, such as measles, mumps, rubella, varicella and rotavirus.
