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Intestinal Absorption of Aluminum

Relation to Neurotoxicity

  • Chapter
The Vulnerable Brain and Environmental Risks

Abstract

Aluminum is a ubiquitous metal in the natural and industrial environment and has been considered a harmless substance for a long time. It may occur in food and drinking water as a natural or added ingredient. Aluminum compounds are even used in orally administered antacids and phosphate-regulating drugs. Exposure—especially oral exposure—is almost unavoidable. However, aluminum is a proven neurotoxic only under rather artificial circumstances of oral and parenteral exposure. As yet, the neurotoxicity of aluminum in the population of patients with renal disorders undergoing dialysis procedures and/or receiving high oral doses of aluminum-containing phosphate-binding medication is the only proven type of aluminum neurotoxicity in humans. The relationship between oral aluminum intake and neurodegenerative disorders, such as Alzheimer’s disease, has not been conclusively resolved. Research on intestinal absorption of aluminum may concentrate on the intraluminal speciation of aluminum compounds after ingestion and on the bioavailability of certain chemical species. This chapter will focus on the factors that determine systemic availability of aluminum from the intestine and may constitute a potential risk for neurotoxicity.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Toxicology Laboratory, University Hospital, Leiden, The Netherlands

    Gijsbert B. van der Voet

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  1. Gijsbert B. van der Voet
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Binghamton University, Binghamton, New York, USA

    Robert L. Isaacson

  2. U. S. Environmental Protection Agency, Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, USA

    Karl F. Jensen

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© 1992 Springer Science+Business Media New York

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van der Voet, G.B. (1992). Intestinal Absorption of Aluminum. In: Isaacson, R.L., Jensen, K.F. (eds) The Vulnerable Brain and Environmental Risks. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-3330-6_3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-3330-6_3

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4613-6467-2

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