A technique normally used for measuring trace minerals in environmental samples, was adapted to measure the amount of aluminium in blood and urine. The new technique was able to accurately detect lower levels than could ever be measured before.
"Using this technique we were able to draw a more complete picture of how the human body copes with aluminium. Before this was developed, this kind of work could not be done because changes in aluminium in blood and urine were too small to be measured using existing methods," Dr. Stauber says.
Funded by the Water Services Association of Australia (WSAA) and conducted by the Centre for Advanced Analytical Chemistry at CSIRO Energy Technology, the study analysed the amount of aluminium in the blood and urine of 29 healthy volunteers aged between 36 and 76, while on a strictly controlled diet and consuming alum-treated drinking water.
Results showed that there was no significant detectable increase in the concentration of aluminium in the blood of volunteers after consuming food or alum-treated drinking water. Age and gender made no difference to the amount of aluminium absorbed from drinking water.
"The results were able to establish that the way the human body copes with aluminium from food and water is similar. This means that aluminium from alum-treated drinking water is not uniquely bioavailable and is therefore unlikely to contribute to Alzheimer's Disease," Dr. Stauber says.
"Our results indicate that water authorities can confidently continue to use alum to treat drinking water with minimal risk to human health," Dr. Stauber says.
The study into drinking water was supported by a related report identifying
sources of aluminium in the Australian diet (see attachment for details). This
study w
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Contact: Dr. Jenny Stauber
Jenny.Stauber@det.csiro.au
61-2-9710-6808
CSIRO Australia
2-Nov-1998