US health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr has requested the retraction of a Danish study that found no link between aluminium in vaccines and childhood disorders such as autism. The study, published in Annals of Internal Medicine, analyzed 1.2 million children born over two decades in Denmark and concluded that aluminium exposure was not associated with any increased risk of autoimmune or neurodevelopmental disorders.
Kennedy’s criticism of the study focuses on its methodology, including the exclusion of children who died before the age of two, which he claims would reveal potential injuries linked to aluminium exposure. However, experts say this exclusion did not affect the overall conclusion and that other studies have consistently shown no evidence of a link between vaccines and autism.
The World Health Organization has previously deemed a study claiming a causal relationship between aluminium-containing vaccines and autism as “seriously flawed”. Independent virologist Gary Grohmann also states that there is no evidence to support a significant side effect from the small amount of aluminium in vaccines.
Annals of Internal Medicine, where the study was published, stands by its findings and has no plans to retract it. The US Department of Health and Human Services declined to comment on Kennedy’s request for retraction.
Source: https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-025-02682-9