No link between aluminium in vaccines and increased health risks

A review published in The BMJ of the most recent data has confirmed no causal associations between aluminium adjuvanted vaccines and serious or long term health outcomes, including autism, diabetes and asthma.

Small amounts of aluminium salts (adjuvants) are commonly used in vaccines against diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis, hepatitis, HPV, and meningitis to make them more effective and longer-lasting. Yet, despite a decades-long safety record, questions about potential long term effects continue to arise in public settings.

High quality evidence from 59 randomised controlled trials and large observational studies consistently showed no association between aluminium-adjuvanted vaccines and health outcomes including autism, type 1 diabetes, asthma, and myalgia.

The most consistently documented reactions were persistent nodules or granulomas at the injection site, but they were uncommon, local, and self-limited.

Isolated reports of a rare muscle disease (macrophagic myofasciitis or MMF) were considered to be at critical risk of bias, and did not provide credible evidence of a causal association.

The researchers say: ‘Current evidence does not support causal associations between aluminium adjuvanted vaccines and serious or long term health outcomes. These findings are consistent with the broader post-licensure safety evidence base, which supports continued use of aluminium adjuvanted vaccines in immunisation programmes.’

Doyen-Plourde P, et al. BMJ 2026;393:e088921