Blood and Hair Aluminum Levels, Vaccine History, and Early Infant Development: A Cross-Sectional Study.

OBJECTIVE

To evaluate relationships between whole blood (B-Al) and hair aluminum (H-Al) levels in healthy infants and their immunization history and development.

METHODS

We conducted a cross-sectional study of 9- to 13-month-old children recruited from an urban primary care center, excluding those with a history of renal disease or receipt of either aluminum-containing pharmaceuticals or parenteral nutrition. Aluminum levels were measured using inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry. Correlation with Bayley Scales of Infant and Toddler Development, Third Edition (BSID) and vaccine-related aluminum load was assessed via linear regression models.

RESULTS

The median age of 85 participants was 287 days. B-Al (median, 15.4 ng/mL; range, 0.9-952 ng/mL) and H-Al (median 42,542 ng/g; range, 2758-211,690 ng/g) were weakly correlated (Spearman ρ = 0.26; P = .03). There was no significant correlation between B-Al or H-Al and estimated aluminum load from vaccines. B-Al was not correlated with BSID composite or subscale scores. Although H-Al was not correlated with BSID scores in models including all data (n = 85), it was inversely correlated with motor composite (P < .02; Wald = 5.88) and the gross motor subscale (P = .04; Wald = 4.38) in models that excluded an extreme outlying H-Al value.

CONCLUSIONS

Infant B-Al and H-Al varied considerably but did not correlate with their immunization history. Likewise, there was no correlation between B-Al and infant development or between H-Al and language or cognitive development. An inverse correlation between H-Al and BSID motor scores deserves further investigation.