Summary

There is currently considerable interest in the possible health risk arising from human exposure to aluminium. This is largely due to the suggestion that it may be a major factor in Alzheimer's disease, the predominant cause of senile dementia with up to 500,000 patients in the UK. The first half of Aluminium in Food and the Environment looks at the adverse health effects associated with aluminium. The evidence for aluminium's involvement in both dialysis dementia and Alzheimer's disease is reviewed and biochemical mechanisms by which aluminium may exert its detrimental effects on brain tissue are discussed. The second half of the book describes dietary sources of exposure to aluminium, including water, tea, antacid tablets, infant formulae, food and leaching of aluminium cookware. It is concluded, however, that further information is needed on the extent to which aluminium is absorbed from the gastrointestinal tract before the possible health risks can be assessed.