Diet

Is aluminum toxic to the human body?

Aluminum is a so-called earth metal and belongs to the chemical elements. After oxygen and silicon, it is the most abundant naturally occurring element in the earth's shell. Aluminum is also found in the human body, but it is not one of the necessary trace elements in food. Aluminum is found in many industrial materials and foods. Most of the aluminum is found in tea. However, food that is stored in aluminum foil also absorbs aluminum. Aluminum is excreted in the faeces and urine. Aluminum can be toxic in large quantities.

How toxic is aluminum to the human body?

Since aluminum is a widespread element in the environment, we ingest aluminum every day. Most of the aluminum is excreted directly through the stool without being absorbed. However, small amounts are absorbed into the body. A healthy body contains between 50 and 150 mg of aluminum. A value of 0.01 mg / l in the blood is normal.

A value from 0.2 mg / l is rated as toxic. Normally, aluminum is excreted via the kidneys within a few days, so that there is only a small amount of aluminum in the body. In kidney dysfunction and dialysis patients, however, the aluminum cannot be removed and toxic levels in the body can occur. Those affected store large amounts of aluminum in various organs, such as the brain and bones, which can lead to serious symptoms of intoxication.

However, normal daily aluminum intake is harmless in healthy people. Certain foods, such as tea or cocoa, contain a particularly large amount of aluminum, but this is not enough to cause poisoning. In some foods, aluminum is even used specifically. This is the case with food coloring, for example. According to the European Food Safety Authority, the limit value for safe aluminum intake is 1 mg per kg of body weight per week. Aluminum is not only absorbed through food, but can also enter the body through the skin and cause skin irritation. For this reason, deodorant sprays with aluminum have been under discussion for several years.

However, the assumption that aluminum can cause breast cancer or Alzheimer's has not yet been proven and the German Alzheimer's Society contradicts the statements that this is possible. Many of the effects of aluminum on the human body have not yet been adequately investigated, so that a hazard cannot be completely ruled out, but it should also not lead to panic. The aluminum in vaccines, which is required as an active enhancer, is also contained in such small quantities that it is absorbed through food, including breast milk, greater. Aluminum poisoning via vaccines is therefore not to be expected.

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What are the typical symptoms of aluminum poisoning?

In people with chronic kidney disease, aluminum can build up in the body and cause poisoning. Since aluminum accumulates in the brain, poisoning leads to memory and language disorders, listlessness and aggressiveness. This is called progressive encephalopathy. Aluminum can also accumulate in the bones and thus soften the bones, which is also known as osteomalacia.

Aluminum is also carried by the same vans as iron. However, since iron is necessary for blood formation, aluminum occupying the transporters can lead to anemia, anemia. Affected people are tired and pale and their performance decreases. However, anemia in particular is a very unspecific symptom and can also have many other causes, such as heavy menstrual bleeding and the associated iron deficiency. Some people have an allergy to aluminum. These develop skin rashes when they come into contact with aluminum, for example aluminum foil, and can react with gastrointestinal complaints to increased food intake.

Read more on the topic: Anemia

What can be the long-term consequences of aluminum poisoning?

All poisoning symptoms of aluminum poisoning are slow, long-term changes, since an acute poisoning would require much larger amounts than can be ingested through food and everyday use. The aluminum gradually accumulates in the organs. Anemia, or anemia, is usually reversible. The blood is formed again as soon as enough iron is transported in the blood.

In the case of severe bone softening with deformations, these symptoms are usually permanent and are therefore part of the long-term consequences of aluminum poisoning. Even the nerve cells that have already disappeared, as part of encephalopathy, cannot be restored. The neurological damage that has already occurred remains lifelong.

Is aluminum foil poisonous?

Aluminum foil is probably the best-known example of aluminum in everyday life. Food that is stored in aluminum foil can contain an increased amount of aluminum. As long as the total amount of aluminum that is absorbed over the week is not too high, the aluminum foil is harmless.
To be on the safe side, acidic foods should not be wrapped in aluminum foil, as these absorb particularly large amounts of aluminum from the aluminum foil. However, the use of aluminum foil is not fundamentally dangerous. Sensitive people, such as people with kidney disease, should use alternative packaging options.

Is Alumina Toxic?

In air, aluminum very quickly turns into aluminum oxide. Aluminum oxide finds its way into the human body as heartburn tablets or as a bone substitute. Aluminum oxide is considered to be significantly safer than aluminum itself. Aluminum oxide, for example, cannot cross the blood-brain barrier, so it is unlikely to be deposited in the brain.

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Are aluminum pots / cans / pans poisonous?

The same rule applies to pots and other containers as to aluminum foil. Small amounts of aluminum can pass into the food and thus lead to increased intake, which should nevertheless be below the limit values. Here, too, it should be ensured that no acidic foods should be stored in the containers, as this increased aluminum can dissolve from the containers. However, the aluminum containers do not pose a fundamental risk.

Is Oxidized Aluminum Toxic?

Aluminum reacts very quickly with oxygen to form aluminum oxide and thus becomes more stable. Aluminum oxide is considered less dangerous to the human body than pure aluminum because it does not cross the blood-brain barrier.