Is Aluminum Toxic?

Usually not, according to ATSDR. It says everyone is exposed to low levels of aluminum from food, air, water and soil, that exposure to aluminum is usually not harmful, but that exposure to high levels can affect your health and may result in respiratory and neurological problems. Workers who breathe large amounts of aluminum dusts can have lung problems, such as coughing or abnormal chest X-rays.

On Alzheimer's disease, ATSDR says some studies show that people exposed to high levels of aluminum may develop it, but other studies have not found this to be true, and that it is not known for certain whether aluminum causes Alzheimer's disease.

In food and cookware, ATSDR says eating large amounts of processed food with aluminum additives or frequently cooking acidic foods in aluminum pots may expose a person to higher levels of aluminum, but that aluminum levels found in processed foods and foods cooked in aluminum pots are generally considered to be safe. It reports that the FDA has determined aluminum used as food additives and in medicines such as antacids is generally safe, and that the FDA set a limit for aluminum in bottled water of 0.2 mg/L. The FDA's over-the-counter antiperspirant monograph lists aluminum chloride up to 15 percent in an aqueous nonaerosol form and aluminum chlorohydrate up to 25 percent among permitted active ingredients.