Aluminum compounds used as adjuvants in vaccines

The structure of nine commercially manufactured aluminum-containing adjuvants was investigated by X-ray diffraction, infrared spectroscopy, transmission electron micrography, and energy dispersive spectrometry. Seven samples which were labeled as aluminum hydroxide were identified as boehmite, a crystalline aluminum oxyhydroxide [AlO(OH)]. However, the degree of crystallinity varied between the samples. Two samples which were labeled as aluminum phosphate were found to be amorphous aluminum hydroxyphosphate. Buffer anions and sulfate anions substitute for hydroxyls in the amorphous aluminum hydroxide formed by the in situ alum precipitation method. Finally, the aluminum-containing adjuvant in diphtheria and tetanus toxoid, U.S.P., produced by three manufacturers was characterized.