Christopher Exley is an English chemist known for his research on the health effects of

aluminium Aluminium (aluminum in AmE, American and CanE, Canadian English) is a chemical element with the Symbol (chemistry), symbol Al and atomic number 13. Aluminium has a density lower than those of other common metals, at approximately o ...

exposure. He was Professor of Bioinorganic Chemistry and group leader of the Bioinorganic Chemistry Laboratory at

Keele University Keele University, officially known as the University of Keele, is a public research university in Keele, approximately from Newcastle-under-Lyme, Staffordshire, England. Founded in 1949 as the University College of North Staffordshire, Kee ...

. He published the research finding that Carole Cross, a woman who died from

aluminium poisoning Aluminium (aluminum in American and Canadian English) is a chemical element with the symbol Al and atomic number 13. Aluminium has a density lower than those of other common metals, at approximately one third that of steel. It h ...

as a result of the 1988

Camelford water pollution incident The Camelford water pollution incident involved the accidental contamination of the drinking water supply to the town of Camelford, Cornwall, in July 1988. Twenty tonnes of aluminium sulphate was inadvertently added to the water supply, raisi ...

, had brain levels of aluminium over twenty times higher than normal. In 2012, he testified in an inquest into Cross's death in

Taunton Taunton () is the county town of Somerset, England, with a 2011 population of 69,570. Its thousand-year history includes a 10th-century monastic foundation, Taunton Castle, which later became a priory. The Normans built a castle owned by t ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

. He asserted that if victims of the poisoning consumed

mineral water Mineral water is water from a mineral spring that contains various minerals, such as salts and sulfur compounds. Mineral water may usually be still or sparkling (carbonated/effervescent) according to the presence or absence of added gases. T ...

that contains high levels of

silicic acid Silicon dioxide, also known as silica, is an oxide of silicon with the chemical formula , most commonly found in nature as quartz and in various living organisms. In many parts of the world, silica is the major constituent of sand. Silica is one ...

, even if they did so twenty-four years after the initial poisoning, it could help to remove the aluminium from their brains. He also criticized the government for advising residents of

Cornwall Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlan ...

to boil their water shortly after the incident, referring to this advice he told the inquest: "The advice given at the time was the worst possible advice to give. Boiling the water would have tripled the concentration of aluminium. It was absolutely terrible advice. I don't think anyone was given any good advice, it is utterly beyond belief and it cannot be acceptable." While some were affected, possibly fatally in one case, and advice at the time was agreed to have been incorrect, it is unlikely that there was any long-term effect from the Camelford incident. In September 2013 the government admitted that there had been a "manifest failure to give prompt appropriate advice and information to affected consumers" and offered an unreserved apology. More recently he has become known for research claiming to link aluminium adjuvants in vaccines with autism. This work, some of which was paid for by unacknowledged donations from anti-vaccine group Children's Medical Safety Research Institute and some of which has subsequently been retracted, has led to him losing research funding. However, in February 2021, ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper A newspaper is a periodical publication containing written information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide ...

'' reported that during the COVID-19 pandemic Exley had received over £150,000 to support his research through Keele University's donations portal. There is no evidence of any link, causal or otherwise, between

vaccines and autism Extensive investigation into vaccines and autism has shown that there is no relationship between the two, causal or otherwise, and that the vaccine ingredients do not cause it. Vaccinologist Peter Hotez researched the growth of the false claim ...

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Exley, Christopher Living people English biochemists Inorganic chemists Academics of Keele University Royal Society University Research Fellows Alumni of the University of Stirling Year of birth missing (living people)