The Harmlessness of Aluminium

The toxicity of aluminium, alumina and other inorganic aluminium salts has never been proven. At the beginning of the 1950s, the FDA declared aluminium as inoffensive and rated it as GRAS (generally recognized as safe). Aluminium foil received the same rating in 1996. 

During the 1970s, several publications in newspapers alleged that aluminium could lead to early senility and could be one of the factors responsible for Alzheimer s disease. In fact, the only reliable data show that aluminium has led to certain medical disorders in patients suffering from renal insufficiency and treated by renal dialysis [7]. These disorders have totally disappeared since dialysis techniques were modified. 

Large epidemiological studies were undertaken in Europe and in the United States [8]. They showed no significant difference in the aluminium content of the brains of deceased patients suffering from Alzheimer s disease and those of deceased patients who did not suffer from this disease [9, 10]. 

All these studies have been the basis for the following statement from the World Health Organization  

There is no evidence to support a primary causative role for aluminium in Alzheimer s disease and aluminium does not induce Alzheimer s disease pathology in vivo in any species, including humans [12]. 

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