Aluminum contamination implicated in dementia and bee deaths

An insect form of Alzheimer's disease caused by aluminum contamination may be one of the causes behind an ongoing decline in populations of bees and other pollinators, according to a study conducted by researchers from the universities of Keele and Sussex and published in the journal PLOS ONE.

The researchers found that honeybees had levels of aluminum in their bodies equivalent to those that could cause brain damage in humans.

"Aluminium is a known neurotoxin affecting behaviour in animal models of aluminium intoxication," said researcher Chris Exley, an expert on human aluminum exposure, as reported by the UK's Daily Mail. "Bees, of course, rely heavily on cognitive function in their everyday behaviour and these data raise the intriguing spectre that aluminium-induced cognitive dysfunction may play a role in their population decline – are we looking at bees with Alzheimer's disease?"...read more>>>...