Scientific evaluation of aluminium and aluminium compounds 13.02.2012
The Nordic Expert Group (NEG) has recently published an evaluation on aluminium. The document is a joint production of the Nordic Expert Group for Criteria Documentation of Health Risks from Chemicals (NEG) and the Dutch Expert Committee on Occupational Safety (DECOS). It has been published separately by DECOS and NEG and the NEG version, hereby announced, has been adapted to the requirements of NEG.
Occupational high-level inhalatory exposure to aluminium can cause lung disorders such as impaired lung function and pulmonary fibrosis. Some field studies suggest that aluminium induce subclinical neurotoxic effects, but no exposure-response relationships could be established and co-exposure to other compounds may have played a role. Human and experimental animal data do not allow firm conclusions on the potential carcinogenicity of aluminium or its com¬pounds. Increased cancer mortality rates in workers in the aluminium production industry is generally considered to be caused by co-exposure to carcinogenic compounds.
Overall, the data are insufficient to identify a critical effect level except for aluminium chlorohydrate for which minimal pulmonary effects were seen in an animal study at 0.061 mg aluminium/m3. The effects of aluminium chlorohydrate were probably caused by insoluble forms of precipitated aluminium hydroxide. Insoluble or poorly soluble forms of aluminium might act similarly in the lungs and might therefore have similar effect levels as aluminium chlorohydrate. However, data on workers indicate that aluminium oxide is less toxic.
