Holy Heck!

Sodium aluminum phosphate, I discovered this morning, is in the "Great Value" brand pancake mix in my pantry.

When I looked this ingredient up, the safety handling sheet shows this additive to be highly toxic to eyes, skin and lungs in terms of external exposure.

Peer-reviewed published studies, including RA Yokel, "Aluminum reproductive toxicity: a summary and interpretation of scientific reports", show that ingesting alumina derivatives causes reproductive damage in mammals right away, especially in males. It damages the fetus and the placenta in pregnant female rats and mice, and it damages sperm in male rats and mice, and lowers their blood testosterone levels:

"Male reproductive endpoints were significantly affected after exposure to lower levels of Al than females. Increased Al intake increased fetus, placenta, and testes Al concentrations, to a greater extent in the placenta than fetus, and, in some cases, more in the testes than placenta. An adverse outcome pathway (AOP) was constructed for males based on the results of the reviewed studies. The proposed AOP includes oxidative stress as the molecular initiating event and increased malondialdehyde, DNA and spermatozoal damage, and decreased blood testosterone and sperm count as subsequent key events."

Blood testosterone, of course, affects many aspects of what we call "masculinity"; and testosterone levels in both men and women are directly tied to sexual libido. In men, testosterone is linked to successful erection and ejaculation. And of course men need undamaged sperm in order to father children, let alone to father healthy children.

This ingredient, sodium aluminum phosphate, is, I found, in commercial muffins, biscuits, and purchased baked goods in general.