Aluminum Al

Atomic Number: 13
Atomic Weight: 26.982
Half-life: Al-26 = 730000 years
Al-27 = stable
Al-28 = 2 to 3 mins

Source:

• Most abundant metal in earth's crust
• Combined in nature with other elements (oxygen, silicon, fluorine)
• Leached from stable state by acid rain
• Anti-caking agent
• Anti-Perspirants
• Cooking acidic foods (rhubarb) in aluminum material
• Dialysis (aluminum hydroxide as phosphate binder in hemodialysis fluid)
• Coal combustion
• Some soy based infant formula

Adverse Effects:

• Neurotoxicity (motor function, cognition)
• Encephalopathy: stuttering, gait disturbance, myoclonic jerks Seizures, coma, abnormal EEG, neurotoxicity of motor function, cognition
• Osteomalacia or aplastic bone disease (associated with painful spontaneous fractures, hypercalcemia, and tumorous calcinosis)
• Proximal myopathy
• Increased risk of infection