ABSTRACT
Aluminum Toxicokinetics Aluminum is an ubiquitous but nonessential metal. For the general popula tion, food constitutes the main source of exposure to aluminum. The alumi num content of most foodstuffs is less than 1 m g /100 g (Ott, 1985). The daily food intake usually ranges from less than 10 mg to 160 mg (Elinder and Sjogren, 1986; Lauwerys, 1999). The use of aluminum-coated vessels (partic ularly when acidic foodstuffs are stored in aluminum utensils), treatment of water with aluminum compounds as flocculants in the purification process, aluminum-containing drugs (antacids, phosphate binders), aluminum-con taminated parenteral fluids (parenteral nutrition, intravenous solutions, con taminated dialysates), and aluminum-based food additives are the other potential main sources of nonoccupational hum an exposure. It is generally accepted that in healthy persons, aluminum is poorly (less than 1%) absorbed by the oral route (Ihle and Becker, 1985; Kaehny et al., 1977; Ott, 1985; Priest et al., 1998).
