Editing Aluminium (section)

=== Exposure routes ===

Food is the main source of aluminium. Drinking water contains more aluminium than solid food;<ref name="Piero3" /> however, aluminium in food may be absorbed more than aluminium from water.<ref name="Yokel2008">{{cite journal|author=Yokel R.A.|author2=Hicks C.L.|author3=Florence R.L.|date=2008|title=Aluminum bioavailability from basic sodium aluminum phosphate, an approved food additive emulsifying agent, incorporated in cheese|journal=[[Food and Chemical Toxicology]]|volume=46|issue=6|pages=2261–2266|doi=10.1016/j.fct.2008.03.004|pmc=2449821|pmid=18436363}}</ref> Major sources of human oral exposure to aluminium include food (due to its use in food additives, food and beverage packaging, and cooking utensils), drinking water (due to its use in municipal water treatment), and aluminium-containing medications (particularly antacid/antiulcer and buffered aspirin formulations).<ref>{{Cite report|author=[[United States Department of Health and Human Services]]|url=http://abcmt.org/tp22.pdf|title=Toxicological profile for aluminum|date=1999|access-date=3 August 2018|archive-date=9 May 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200509192819/http://abcmt.org/tp22.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref> Dietary exposure in Europeans averages to 0.2–1.5&nbsp;mg/kg/week but can be as high as 2.3&nbsp;mg/kg/week.<ref name="Piero3" /> Higher exposure levels of aluminium are mostly limited to miners, aluminium production workers, and [[Kidney dialysis|dialysis]] patients.{{cn|date=March 2025}}

Consumption of [[antacid]]s, antiperspirants, [[vaccine]]s, and cosmetics provide possible routes of exposure.<ref name="ChenThyssen2018">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hKlVDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA333|title=Metal Allergy: From Dermatitis to Implant and Device Failure|last1=Chen|first1=Jennifer K.|last2=Thyssen|first2=Jacob P.|publisher=Springer|year=2018|isbn=978-3-319-58503-1|page=333|access-date=23 July 2018|archive-date=26 December 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191226141303/https://books.google.com/books?id=hKlVDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA333|url-status=live}}</ref> Consumption of acidic foods or liquids with aluminium enhances aluminium absorption,<ref>{{cite journal|author=Slanina, P.|last2=French|first2=W.|last3=Ekström|first3=L.G.|last4=Lööf|first4=L.|last5=Slorach|first5=S.|last6=Cedergren|first6=A.|date=1986|title=Dietary citric acid enhances absorption of aluminum in antacids|journal=Clinical Chemistry|volume=32|issue=3|pages=539–541|pmid=3948402|doi=10.1093/clinchem/32.3.539}}</ref> and [[maltol]] has been shown to increase the accumulation of aluminium in nerve and bone tissues.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Van Ginkel|first1=M.F.|last2=Van Der Voet|first2=G.B.|last3=D'haese|first3=P.C.|last4=De Broe|first4=M.E.|last5=De Wolff|first5=F.A.|date=1993|title=Effect of citric acid and maltol on the accumulation of aluminum in rat brain and bone|journal=The Journal of Laboratory and Clinical Medicine|volume=121|issue=3|pages=453–460|pmid=8445293}}</ref>