copenlu/druid huggingface dataset:
Claim: Aluminum in vaccines causes neurological damage and autism (Arjun Walia, Facebook users, 2020-02-19)
Evidence (2019-04-26): Aluminium "Known to cause brain damage at all doses, linked to Alzheimer’s Disease, dementia, seizures, automimmune issues, SIDs and cancer. This toxin accumulates in the brain and causes more damage with each dose". Aluminium salts are in many vaccines (for example, the HPV vaccine) for a variety of reasons. According to the Vaccine Knowledge Project at the University of Oxford (a group of consultants, researchers, nurses and statisticians looking at vaccines at the university’s Department of Paediatrics) aluminium salts "slow down the release of the active ingredient from the vaccine once it is injected, and stimulate the immune system to respond." [...] "Tiny doses cause damage to the brain, gut, liver, bone marrow, nervous system and/or kidneys. Linked to autoimmune disorders, and neurological disorders like AUTISM."
Claim: Aluminum in vaccines causes neurological damage and autism (Arjun Walia, Facebook users, 2020-02-19)
Evidence (2024-07-26): Kennedy is co-counsel with a law firm that is suing the pharmaceutical company Merck based in part on the unfounded assertion that the aluminum in one of its vaccines causes neurological disease. Aluminum is added to many vaccines as an adjuvant to strengthen the body’s immune response to the vaccine, thereby enhancing the body’s defense against the targeted microbe. The law firm’s claim is based on a 2020 report showing that brain tissue from some patients with Alzheimer’s disease, autism and multiple sclerosis have elevated levels of aluminum. The authors of that study do not assert that vaccines are the source of the aluminum, and vaccines are unlikely to be the culprit. Notably, the brain samples analyzed in that study were from 47- to 105-year-old patients. Most people are exposed to aluminum primarily through their diets, and aluminum is eliminated from the body within days. Therefore, aluminum exposure from childhood vaccines is not expected to persist in those patients.
Claim: Aluminum in vaccines causes neurological damage and autism (Arjun Walia, Facebook users, 2020-02-19)
Evidence (2024-03-23): For the most part, vaccines combine the following types of ingredients: Antigens to help your body build immunityStabilizers and other ingredients to help vaccines stay safe and effective for a long timeIngredients, like aluminum salt, to help your body respond to the vaccine But they also contain (or previously contained) some ingredients that worry parents. One of those ingredients was thimerosal, a preservative containing ethylmercury (a type of mercury cleared from the body more readily than methylmercury, the kind of mercury found in fish). Vaccine Schedule for Babies and Toddlers Why Are People Concerned About Mercury in Vaccines? Parents have had many fears about mercury in vaccines, from a concern that mercury exposure could lead to learning disabilities to immune system and organ damage, to nervous system problems. Learning disabilities Fears about mercury stemmed from research showing that exposure to high doses can cause learning disabilities and damage the brain. This is why mercury is often blamed by those who suggest a connection between vaccines and autism. However, older studies published a few years after thimerosal was removed from vaccines found the opposite to be true.
Claim: Aluminum in vaccines causes neurological damage and autism (Arjun Walia, Facebook users, 2020-02-19)
Evidence (2024-07-17): Moreover, aluminum has been used in vaccines for decades and there is no evidence that it causes autism. The aluminum adjuvant used in some vaccines helps to stimulate the immune system and improve the effectiveness of the vaccine. [...] Aluminum and the Vaccine-Autism Controversy [...] In conclusion, there is currently no strong evidence to support the claim that aluminum causes autism. While aluminum exposure can occur through various sources, including vaccines, the amount of aluminum in vaccines is considered safe and necessary to improve vaccine efficacy.
Claim: Aluminum in vaccines causes neurological damage and autism (Arjun Walia, Facebook users, 2020-02-19)
Evidence (2017-07-22): Impaired brain function, excessive inflammation, and autoimmune manifestations are common in autism. Aluminum (Al), the most commonly used vaccine adjuvant, is a demonstrated neurotoxin and a strong immune stimulator. Hence, adjuvant Al has the necessary properties to induce neuroimmune disorders. Because peripheral immune stimuli in the postnatal period can compromise brain development and cause permanent neurological impairments, the possibility that such outcomes could also occur with administration of Al vaccine adjuvants needs to be considered. In regard to the risk of adjuvant toxicity in children, the following should be noted: (i) children should not be viewed as "small adults" as their unique physiology makes them more vulnerable to toxic insults; (ii) in adult humans Al adjuvants can cause a variety of serious autoimmune and inflammatory conditions including those affecting the brain, yet children are routinely exposed to much higher amounts of Al from vaccines than adults; (iii) compelling evidence has underscored the tight connection between the development of the immune system and that of the brain. Thus, it appears plausible that disruptions of critical events in immune development may also play a role in the establishment of neurobehavioral disorders; (iv) the same immune system components that play key roles in brain development appear to be targeted for impairment by Al adjuvants. In summary, research data suggests that vaccines containing Al may be a contributing etiological factor in the increasing incidence of autism. [...] Banks WA, Kastin AJ. Aluminum-induced neurotoxicity: alterations in membrane function at the blood-brain barrier. Neurosci Biobehav Rev. 1989;13(1):47–53.
Claim: Aluminum in vaccines causes neurological damage and autism (Arjun Walia, Facebook users, 2020-02-19)
Evidence (2020-10-28): Some people concerned about vaccine safety wonder whether vaccines may enter the brain and cause neurological conditions. In order to affect the brain, vaccine components would need to reach the brain. Importantly, our brains are protected by a barrier, called the blood-brain barrier (BBB), which keeps foreign substances from entering the brain. [...] - Aluminum salts -Many vaccines contain aluminum salts to boost the response to the vaccine. When aluminum salts enter the bloodstream, most are bound by a protein, called transferrin, and filtered out of the body by the kidneys. While more than half of the quantity of aluminum that enters the body is removed within 24 hours of injection, and 75% within two weeks, small amounts of aluminum, introduced either through vaccination or through the diet, may remain in the body. Most of this aluminum accumulates in the bones, but about 1% of residual aluminum is estimated to accumulate in the brain. Most often, health issues that involve aluminum are experienced by people whose kidneys are not working well or not working at all AND who have been exposed to high levels of aluminum over a long period of time. In these situations, health issues could be associated with the bones or brain. However, the role of aluminum in brain-based diseases remains uncertain. [...] If you are concerned that your child is suffering from meningitis or encephalitis, contact your healthcare provider immediately.
Claim: Aluminum in vaccines causes neurological damage and autism (Arjun Walia, Facebook users, 2020-02-19)
Evidence (2024-01-01): The GACVS reviewed 2 published papers alleging that aluminium in vaccines is associated with autism spectrum disorders3, 4 and the evidence generated from quantitative risk assessment by a US FDA pharmacokinetic model of aluminium-containing vaccines. GACVS considers that these 2 studies3, 4 are seriously flawed. The core argument made in these studies is based on ecological comparisons of aluminium content in vaccines and rates of autism spectrum disorders in several countries. In general, ecological studies cannot be used to assert a causal association because they do not link exposure to outcome in individuals, and only make correlations of exposure and outcomes on population averages. Therefore their value is primarily for hypothesis generation. However, there are additional concerns with those studies that limit any potential value for hypothesis generation. These include: incorrect assumptions about known associations of aluminium with neurological disease, uncertainty of the accuracy of the autism spectrum disorder prevalence rates in different countries, and accuracy of vaccination schedules and resulting calculations of aluminium doses in different countries. [...] 3Tomljenovic L, Shaw CA. Do aluminum vaccine adjuvants contribute to the rising prevalence of autism? Journal of Inorganic Biochemistry, 2011; 105: 1489–1499.
Claim: Aluminum in vaccines causes neurological damage and autism (Arjun Walia, Facebook users, 2020-02-19)
Evidence (2024-04-05): Nevertheless, social media posts regularly raise unfounded concerns about aluminum in vaccines, including that it can harm the nervous system, that it exceeds safe levels or it is unsafe because it never leaves the body. As we have written, this is part of a larger pattern in which people attempt to raise concerns about vaccines by making unfounded claims of harms from substances present in tiny amounts. "Aluminum is a known neurotoxin," said one recent post on Instagram. "If we keep bombarding the system over and over at so many well visits with an increasing scheduling there has to be a breaking point," the post misleadingly said, referring to aluminum exposures from vaccines. [...] Angela | Exposing Big Pharma · Vaccine Truths (@faithful_free_momma). "Aluminum is a known neurotoxin. If we keep bombarding the system over and over at so many well visits with an increasing scheduling there has to be a breaking point. …" Instagram. 13 Mar 2024.
Claim: Aluminum in vaccines causes neurological damage and autism (Arjun Walia, Facebook users, 2020-02-19)
Evidence (2012-11-07): Mechanisms of Aluminum and Mercury Toxicity 3. Related Work 3.1. MMR Vaccine 3.2. Other Related Work 4. Our Studies with U.S. CDC VAERS Database 4.1. Distribution of Vaccine Types in Autism versus Controls 4.2. Relationship between Aluminum in Vaccines and Symptoms 4.3. MMR Vaccine and Autism 4.4. Hepatitis B Vaccine and Autism 4.5. Limitations of the VAERS Database and the Experiments 5. Discussion 6. Conclusion [...] - Joshi, J.G. Neurochemical hypothesis: participation by aluminum in producing critical mass of colocalized errors in brain leads to neurological disease. Comp. Biochem. Physiol. C 1991, 100, 103–105. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [...] - Lemire, J.; Appanna, V.D. Aluminum toxicity and astrocyte dysfunction: A metabolic link to neurological disorders. J. Inorg. Biochem. 2011, 105, 1513–1517. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed]
Claim: Aluminum in vaccines causes neurological damage and autism (Arjun Walia, Facebook users, 2020-02-19)
Evidence (2020-03-24): Vaccines do not cause neurological damage, aluminum levels in vaccines are safe Scientific evidence shows that vaccines are safe and not associated with autism. The amount of aluminum present in vaccines is very low, in fact much lower than the amount of aluminum in the diet of infants. Furthermore, the biologically active form of aluminum cannot cross the blood-brain barrier, hence it cannot cause damage to the brain or autism. [...] Several Facebook posts containing screenshots of Google search results purporting to show evidence linking aluminum in vaccines with neurological damage and autism were published in early March 2020. An article published by Collective Evolution in mid-February reported a similar claim made by Christopher Exley, professor of bioinorganic chemistry at Keele University, based on the findings of his study[1].
Claim: Aluminum in vaccines causes neurological damage and autism (Arjun Walia, Facebook users, 2020-02-19)
Evidence (2020-07-28): Kiesswetter E, Schäper M, Buchta M, Schaller KH, Rossbach B, Kraus T, et al. Longitudinal study on potential neurotoxic effects of aluminum: II. assessment of exposure and neurobehavioral performance of Al welders in the automobile industry over 4 years. Int Arch Occup Environ Health. (2009) 82:1191–210. doi: 10.1007/s00420-009-0414-9 97. Fewtrell MS, Edmonds CJ, Isaacs E, Bishop NJ, Lucas A. Aluminum exposure from parenteral nutrition in preterm infants and later health outcomes during childhood and adolescence. Proc Nutr Soc. (2011) 70:299–304. doi: 10.1017/S0029665111000498 98. Virk SA, Eslick GD. Occupational exposure to aluminum and Alzheimer disease: a meta-analysis. J Occup Environ Med. (2015) 57:893–6. doi: 10.1097/JOM.0000000000000487 99. Salib E, Hillier V. A case-control study of Alzheimer's disease and aluminum occupation. Br J Psychiatry. (1996) 168:244–9. doi: 10.1192/bjp.168.2.244 100. Shaw CA, Li Y. Tomljenovic L Administration of aluminum to neonatal mice in vaccine-relevant amounts is associated with adverse long-term neurological outcomes. J Inorg Biochem. (2013) 128:237–44. doi: 10.1016/j.jinorgbio.2013.07.022 101. Tomljenovic L, Shaw CA. Do aluminum vaccine adjuvants contribute to the rising prevalence of autism? J Inorg Biochem. (2011) 105:1489–99. doi: 10.1016/j.jinorgbio.2011.08.008 102. Tomljenovic L, Shaw CA. Aluminum vaccine adjuvants: are they safe? Cur Med Chem. (2011) 18:2630–7. doi: 10.2174/092986711795933740 103.
Claim: "Global warming is driving polar bears toward extinction" (Henry Fountain, 2020-07-27)
Evidence (2020-07-27): Sea-ice loss due to global warming is the most important threat to long-term survival and reproduction of polar bears. Under a high greenhouse gas emissions scenario, all but a few polar bear subpopulations are at risk of extinction by 2100. In the moderate greenhouse gas emissions scenario, some polar bear subpopulations could persist through the century.
Claim: "Global warming is driving polar bears toward extinction" (Henry Fountain, 2020-07-27)
Evidence (2020-07-21): Polar bears could become nearly extinct by the end of the century as a result of shrinking sea ice in the Arctic if global warming continues unabated, scientists said on Monday. Nearly all of the 19 subpopulations of polar bears, from the Beaufort Sea off Alaska to the Siberian Arctic, would face being wiped out because the loss of sea ice would force the animals onto land and away from their food supplies for longer periods, the researchers said. Prolonged fasting, and reduced nursing of cubs by mothers, would lead to rapid declines in reproduction and survival. "There is very little chance that polar bears would persist anywhere in the world, except perhaps in the very high Arctic in one small subpopulation" if greenhouse-gas emissions continue at so-called business-as-usual levels, said Peter K Molnar, a researcher at the University of Toronto Scarborough and lead author of the study, which was published on Monday in the journal Nature Climate Change.
Claim: "Global warming is driving polar bears toward extinction" (Henry Fountain, 2020-07-27)
Evidence (2020-07-20): Most polar bears to disappear by 2100, study predicts [...] Global Warming Is Driving Polar Bears Toward Extinction, Researchers Say (Published 2020) By century’s end, polar bears worldwide could become nearly extinct as a result of shrinking sea ice in the Arctic if climate change continues unabated, scientists said.
Claim: "Global warming is driving polar bears toward extinction" (Henry Fountain, 2020-07-27)
Evidence (2024-05-23): One victim of this change are polar bears, who spend less time on sea ice, leading them to fast for longer, become thinner and have fewer cubs. But Michael Pritchard, a photo-historian at the Royal Photographic Society in the UK, warns that taking shocking polar bear photos at face value can be "problematic." [...] "When scientists say polar bears are going to starve to death in the Arctic because of the loss of sea ice, this is what it's going to look like," she says. "[Polar bears] are not just a number on a spreadsheet. We were hoping that was going to have an impact on the conversation." [...] Although polar bears may have once been shorthand for climate change, experts have argued they have lost their value as climate symbols – misrepresenting an entire species and distancing the immediate threat of climate disaster.
Claim: "Global warming is driving polar bears toward extinction" (Henry Fountain, 2020-07-27)
Evidence (2024-01-01): Polar bears are set to become one of the most notable casualties of global warming unless drastic action is taken, says WWF. The impact of climate change is increasingly felt in polar regions, where summer sea ice is expected to decrease by 50–100 per cent over the next 50–100 years. Dependent upon arctic sea ice for hunting seals and highly specialized for life in the Arctic's marine environment, polar bears are predicted to suffer more than a 30 per cent population decline in the next 45 years. [...] According to a recent WWF study, a quarter of the world’s species will be on their way to extinction by 2050 as a result of accelerating climatic changes directly linked to human use of fossil fuels. The latest findings indicate that the Earth is warming faster than at any time in the last 10,000 years and climate change in the Arctic, where polar bears live, is expected to be among the greatest of any region on Earth.
Claim: "Global warming is driving polar bears toward extinction" (Henry Fountain, 2020-07-27)
Evidence (2018-01-02): Polar Bears Really Are Starving Because of Global Warming, Study Shows [...] Millions have seen the heart-wrenching video of a polar bear clinging to life, its white hair limply covering its thin, bony frame. Shot by Paul Nicklen and Cristina Mittermeier of the nonprofit group Sea Legacy, and published on National Geographic in early December, the video ignited a firestorm of debate about what scientists know, and don’t know, about the impacts of global warming on polar bears. Without examining the bear in the video—thought to have died—it’s impossible to know for sure what ailed that individual, but now scientists have published new findings that shed more light on the risk to the species overall. [...] Polar bears are considered endangered in the U.S. and are listed as "vulnerable" by the IUCN, because their sea ice habitat is under threat from climate change.
Claim: "Global warming is driving polar bears toward extinction" (Henry Fountain, 2020-07-27)
Evidence (2020-07-30): Due to climate change, polar bears have been listed as vulnerable to extinction by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) (BBC). According to the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), there are an estimated 22,000 to 31,000 polar bears left in the wild (NBC). A new study, published in Nature Climate Change, puts a timeline of the year 2100 for possible polar bear extinction (BBC). Nearly all of the 19 subpopulations of polar bears would face being wiped out due to the increase in temperatures and loss of sea ice (NYT). If the Earth’s temperature rises 3.3 degrees Celsius (37.94 degrees Fahrenheit) above pre-industrial levels, as in the study’s scenario, polar bears will likely become extinct (One Green Planet). Currently, in 2020, the Earth’s temperature is 1 degree Celsius (33.8 degrees Fahrenheit) above pre-industrial levels (Climate Analytics). Polar bears main habitat is sea ice, where they hunt seals by waiting for them to surface at holes in the ice (NYT). Lack of sea ice forces polar bears into prolonged fasting, and reduced nursing of cubs, which will lead to rapid declines in reproduction and survival (NYT). Climate Change Will Wipe Out Polar Bears by 2100, New Study Finds https://climateanalytics.org/briefings/global-warming-reaches-1c-above-preindustrial-warmest-in-more-than-11000-years/
Claim: "Global warming is driving polar bears toward extinction" (Henry Fountain, 2020-07-27)
Evidence (2020-07-20): Polar bears will be wiped out by the end of the century unless more is done to tackle climate change, a study predicts. [...] Polar bears are listed as vulnerable to extinction by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), with climate change a key factor in their decline. [...] Under a high greenhouse gas emissions scenario, it's likely that all but a few polar bear populations will collapse by 2100, the study found. And even if moderate emissions reduction targets are achieved, several populations will disappear.
Claim: "Global warming is driving polar bears toward extinction" (Henry Fountain, 2020-07-27)
Evidence (2020-07-20): Polar bears (Ursus maritimus) require sea ice for capturing seals and are expected to decline range-wide as global warming and sea-ice loss continue1,2. Estimating when different subpopulations will likely begin to decline has not been possible to date because data linking ice availability to demographic performance are unavailable for most subpopulations2 and unobtainable a priori for the projected but yet-to-be-observed low ice extremes3. Here, we establish the likely nature, timing and order of future demographic impacts by estimating the threshold numbers of days that polar bears can fast before cub recruitment and/or adult survival are impacted and decline rapidly. Intersecting these fasting impact thresholds with projected numbers of ice-free days, estimated from a large ensemble of an Earth system model4, reveals when demographic impacts will likely occur in different subpopulations across the Arctic. Our model captures demographic trends observed during 1979–2016, showing that recruitment and survival impact thresholds may already have been exceeded in some subpopulations. It also suggests that, with high greenhouse gas emissions, steeply declining reproduction and survival will jeopardize the persistence of all but a few high-Arctic subpopulations by 2100. Moderate emissions mitigation prolongs persistence but is unlikely to prevent some subpopulation extirpations within this century. [...] Stirling, I. & Derocher, A. E. Effects of climate warming on polar bears: a review of the evidence. Glob. Change Biol.18, 2694–2706 (2012). [...] Hunter, C. M. et al. Climate change threatens polar bear populations: a stochastic demographic analysis. Ecology91, 2883–2897 (2010).
Claim: "Global warming is driving polar bears toward extinction" (Henry Fountain, 2020-07-27)
Evidence (2021-11-30): Q: How fast will polar bears go extinct at the rate that global warming is happening? A: Nobody knows for sure if polar bears will go extinct. Whether that happens depends on what happens to the sea ice in the Arctic, which serves as an important habitat for the polar bears’ main food source: seals. And the sea ice depends very tightly on what happens to carbon dioxide emissions, and we don’t know what’s going to happen there. We have projections based on various emissions scenarios but, as Yogi Berra said, the future is very hard to predict before it happens. [...] So, to answer your question, my best guess is that polar bears could go extinct somewhere between 2050 and 2100.