Aluminum, is it dangerous?
You all know what aluminum is, a metal that's used to make pop cans and kitchen foil. It seems useful, doesn't it? Well, it is very useful! Aluminum is found everywhere in your day-to-day lives; from staples to computer and cellphone parts to the components of space shuttles1.
The reason aluminum is everywhere is that it's the 3rd most abundant element in the Earth’s Crust after oxygen and silicon. Aluminum is not mined in its pure form, it's is much too reactive for that. Instead, many aluminum-containing compounds are mined and refined to create the silvery metal that is so common in modern life2.
But aluminum is more than durable metal, it's an ingredient in both foods and care products. Aluminum isn't essential for our body, but in low doses (such as the trace amounts found in organic foods), it's not harmful either. Aluminum toxicity only starts to become a problem when you're constantly exposed to high quantities of aluminum that are able to be to be ingested, such as within aluminum refineries. This toxicity can cause the brain to lose some of its ability to learn new topics or recall old memories3.
just to be clear, eating organic foods with small amounts of aluminum in them will not harm you!
One of the popular concerns with aluminum-containing products is that the aluminum found in antiperspirants may cause breast cancer. This theory is has been disproven by scientists due to the fact that aluminum (and aluminum-based materials) have not been known to cause cancer4. A more likely outcome of using these antiperspirants improperly is the development of cysts (non-cancerous lumps) underneath the skin. These are not harmful and go away over time5.
Overall, aluminum is not dangerous if you're living a life outside of an aluminum factory (or you're not in the habit of eating pop cans) and you can live carefree knowing that this common metal is not something to be worried about and will not give you any health problems down the road.
1. Enghag, P. (2006). Encyclopedia of the elements: Technical data, history, processing, applications. Estados Unidos: Wiley-VCH. Page 819-830.
2. Brown, T., Wrighton, C., Idoine, N., Raycraft, E., Shaw, R., Deady, E., . . . MacKenzie, A. (2018). World mineral production 2012-2016. Nottingham: British Geological Survey. Page 4
3. Klotz, K., Weistenhöfer, W., Neff, F., Hartwig, A., Thriel, C. V., & Drexler, H. (2017). The Health Effects of Aluminum Exposure. Deutsches Aerzteblatt Online. doi:10.3238/arztebl.2017.0653
4.Mcgrath, K. G. (2003). An earlier age of breast cancer diagnosis related to more frequent use of antiperspirants/deodorants and underarm shaving. European Journal of Cancer Prevention, 12(6), 479-485. doi:10.1097/00008469-200312000-00006
5.Breast cysts. (2018, November 06). Retrieved from https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/breast-cysts/symptoms-causes/syc-20370284
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