Aluminum: What you should know.

Aluminum is found almost everywhere now days. From soda cans, to airplane parts. It's in your car, and in your kitchen. You most likely come in direct contact with it every day. But, their are things you most likely don't know about aluminum. Things that may surprise you.

Aluminum, as most common "metals" we know today, is an alloy. A composite material made up of several other materials. It’s “dug” up as aluminum ore, the most common being called bauxite. Aluminum is the third most abundant element in the Earth's crust and constitutes 7.3% by mass. In nature however it only exists in very stable combinations with other materials (particularly as silicates and oxides) and it was not until 1808 that its existence was first established. It took many years of painstaking research to "unlock" the metal from its ore and many more to produce a viable, commercial production process. Aluminum is extracted (not made!) with a strong base (that forms Aluminum hidroxide) and after heated to reform the oxide.

Pound for pound, the strength of aluminum vs. strength of steel is outstanding to say the least. Aluminum also has a high resistance to corrosion, when isolated from other materials.

All sounds great, right? Let’s have another look. Aluminum has been exempted from tesitng for safety by the FDA under a convoluted logic wherein it is classified as GRAS. (Generally Regarded As Safe.) It has never been tested by the FDA on its safety and there are NO restrictions whatever on the amount or use of aluminum. There are over 2000 references in the National Library of Medicine on adverse effects of alumium.

Producing new aluminum creates toxic emissions from the plant. To comply with regulations established by the Environmental Protection Agency, the aluminum industry is developing better anti-pollution devices. Economically, this is a problem because the industry has limited funds to allocate for research and development of better equipment to control pollution.

Aluminum toxicity has been recognized in many settings where exposure is heavy or prolonged, where renal function is limited, or where apreviously accumulated bone burden is released in stress or illness. Toxicity may include: encephalopathy (stuttering, gait disturbance, myoclonic jerks, seizures, coma, abnormal EEG) osteomalacia or aplastic bone disease ( associated with painful spontaneous fractures, hypercalcemia, tumorous calcinosis ) proximal myopathy, increased risk of infection, increased left ventricular mass and decreased myocardial function microcytic anemia with very high levels, sudden death. (Ok, I copied this...)

Also, many cooperation have failed to recognize the adverse effect caused by using aluminum in situations where it is directly connected to, or in very close proximity to other alloys such as carbon steel. Galvanic corrosion cannot be cured simply by placing a few pieces of heavy electrical tape between them. Long story! Just research the stock price of Dorsey Trailers.

Ok, it is getting late. Please follow the links bellow for more information.

http://www.bayou.com/rmh/PullTab.html

http://www.dulley.com/ref/fe003.htm

aluminum.org

http://www.world-aluminium.org/history/

http://www.luminet.net/~wenonah/hydro/al.htm

Later!!!!!!!!!