- HHS Secretary Robert Kennedy Jr. says aluminum in vaccines may be a factor in a child developing a peanut allergy.
- Experts say Kennedyโs comments are not based on credible scientific evidence.
- Children are exposed to more aluminum throughout daily life than in vaccines.
Experts say there is no scientific proof to back up Health and Human Services Secretary Robert Kennedy Jr.โs assertion that aluminum in childhood vaccines is linked to peanut allergies in children.
At a leadership forum this week sponsored by the Food Allergy Fund, Kennedy said he didnโt believe that a lack of early exposure to peanuts was the cause of peanut allergies.
Instead, the Health Secretary suggested, aluminum in vaccines could be a potential factor. He stated that aluminum was introduced into vaccines about the same time as the increase in peanut allergies began, a claim disputed by experts.
Kennedy said his federal health agency is planning to conduct research into food allergies and its causes.
However, experts say Kennedyโs remarks are off base and could discourage parents from vaccinating their children.
โAluminum has been made a villain for many years. Thereโs no science behind it,โ said Danelle Fisher, MD, a pediatrician at Providence Saint Johnโs Health Center in Santa Monica, CA. โYou eat and breathe more aluminum in a day than you get in a vaccine.โ
โThere is no credible scientific evidence that aluminum in vaccines causes peanut or other food allergies,โ added Inderpal Randhawa, MD, an allergist, immunologist, pediatrician, and the founder and chief executive officer of the Food Allergy Institute in Long Beach, CA.
โAluminum has been part of the majority of pediatric and adult vaccines for more than eight decades,โ Randhawa told Healthline. โIf aluminum were the cause, food allergies should have been on a continuous rise for eight decades.โ
Anne Liu, MD, a clinical associate professor of pediatrics at Stanford University in California, noted that there has been extensive research indicating that vaccines arenโt a factor in food allergies.
โThere have been large studies on the topic of vaccinations and allergies, and none have found a credible association between vaccinations and increased risk of allergies, including food allergies,โ she told Healthline.
Aluminum and childhood vaccines
Aluminum was first introduced into vaccines in 1926, more than 70 years before any increase in peanut allergies was detected.
The metal is used in vaccines as an adjuvant, a component that enhances the immune response to the vaccine. Adjuvants enable the use of smaller quantities of a vaccine and fewer doses.
Aluminum is the third most abundant element, after oxygen and silicon, on Earth. It is found in food, beverages, soil, health products, and various manufactured products, including airplanes.
It’s estimated that people typically ingest 7 to 9 milligrams (mg) of aluminum per day, a substance that the kidneys filter out.
By comparison, an infant will receive slightly more than 4 mg of aluminum from vaccines during their first six months of life. Breast milk and formula also contain trace amounts of aluminum.
โAluminum is in our food, our soil. Itโs everywhere,โ Fisher told Healthline.
In fact, aย studyย published in July, which included 1.2 million children born in Denmark between 1997 and 2018, concluded that exposure to aluminum through vaccines during the first two years of life was not associated with increased rates of any of the 50 disorders studied, including food allergies.
What to know about peanut allergies
An estimated 33 million people in the United States have a food allergy. That includes about 1 in 10 adults and 1 in 13 children.
About half of U.S. adults with food allergies report having had a severe reaction. Slightly more than 40% of children with food allergies have had severe reactions.
Reactions, which can include life threateningย anaphylaxisย attacks, occur when the body sees an allergen in a food as an intruder and attacks it.
Peanuts areย oneย of the nine most common food allergies in the United States.
Itโsย estimatedย that approximately 2% of U.S. children may have a peanut allergy. As many as 20% of them outgrow the allergy as adults.
About 20 years ago, concerns were raised over a steady increase in peanut allergies.
Aย 2010 reportย revealed that the rate of peanut allergies in U.S. children had tripled between 1997 and 2008.
Due to these types of concerns, medical professionals have been advising parents to avoid giving infants foods that could cause an allergic reaction.
However, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) reported in 2008 that there was no convincing evidence that delaying food introductions to infants older than 6 months could prevent food allergies.
In 2015, aย studyย from the LEAP clinical trial concluded that giving children foods containing peanuts before their first birthday significantly reduced their risk of developing a peanut allergy by the time they were 5 years old.
That research led to a reversal of the advice medical professionals had been giving parents in regards to food allergies.
Starting in 2017, the medical community began advising parents to gradually introduce peanuts into their infants’ diets.
Researchers say the strategy is working.
Anย October studyย found that childhood peanut allergies in the United States have declined since the implementation of early introduction strategies.
The researchersย reportedย that during a two-year observation period, peanut allergy rates decreased from 0.92% before the guidelines to 0.67% afterward, representing a 27% reduction.
Liu said the results from this guidance change have been remarkable.
โWe don’t often see such clear-cut results in clinical trials these days,โ she said. โIt is really incredible to see the fruits of that change in practice.โ
Randhawa, however, cautions that early introduction isnโt a solution for all children. He noted that children without allergies donโt need to be given peanut products at an early age. He added that children with allergies are usually allergic to three or four foods, so peanut introduction doesnโt completely solve the problem.
โAttempting to solve for peanut alone does not mitigate the disease enough,โ Randhawa said.
Potential causes of peanut allergies
Scientists arenโt certain what causes peanut allergies to develop. There are several theories, however. Among them:
- having other allergies
- a family history of peanut allergies
- an underdeveloped immune system
- a lack of vitamin D
Fisher agreed that the development of peanut allergies is complex, and it is often due to a variety of factors.
โItโs never as simple as A causes B,โ she said.
โPeanut allergy is multifactorial,โ added Randhawa. โGenetics, family history, skin factors such as eczema, and environmental factors such as pollen allergies all play a role in developing peanut allergy.โ
Childhood vaccinations remain important
Fisher said she has counseled many parents on food allergies during her 24 years of practicing as a pediatrician. She stresses the importance of vaccines in helping prevent the spread of deadly diseases such as measles.
โIf parents stop vaccinating their children, we are going to see a return of these diseases that we have the ability to protect our children from,โ she said.
Randhawa and Liu agreed.
โChildren who are not getting routine childhood immunizations are at risk for infections that should be preventable or at least made much milder with effective vaccinations,โ Liu said.
โWe will see a resurgence of serious infections if vaccination rates decline significantly,โ added Randhawa.ย โVaccines that contain aluminum protect against diseases like hepatitis B, diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis, Hib, pneumococcal disease, and HPV.โ
โThese infections are most dangerous for babies, pregnant people, the elderly, and those with immune problems,โ Randhawa added. โWhen vaccination rates fall, we lose โcommunity protectionโ and these vulnerable groups pay the highest price.โ
