Rising Eagle
Did you ever hear about the 'Camelford water incident' in the UK? It caused a stir again last year because of one resident:
http://www.healthandsafetybusiness.com/Summer06/Articles/News.html
The Camelford Water Poisoning Legacy
The drinking water supplies to 20,000 people in and around Camelford in Cornwall were contaminated in July 1988 when a lorry driver dumped around 20 tonnes of aluminium sulphate, used in the early stages of wastewater treatment, into the wrong tank at the former South West Water Authority (SWWA) water treatment works at Lowermoor. People across a large area of north Cornwall were exposed to levels of aluminium 500 to 3,000 times the acceptable limit as defined by the European Union. The water was so acidic that it leached copper and lead from the supply pipes, creating an even more toxic concoction.
Several subsequent independent reports into the incident were published, concluding that it was unlikely that the substance involved would have caused any persistent or delayed health effects. However, a woman who was exposed to the agent died in 2004 aged 58. A post-mortem examination of her brain revealed a rare form of early-onset Alzheimer's disease, and very high levels of aluminium were also found in the affected areas of her brain tissue. Although the woman had a genetic predisposition to developing a more common form of the disease later in life (through a gene called APOE), the possibility is raised that her aluminium exposure may have accelerated the onset of Alzheimer's.
There have been calls made for a carefully planned monitoring programme of the health of the people affected to see if they have sustained any impairment to their intellectual capacity.
A Parliamentary investigating committee into the Camelford incident was due to meet again in the summer of 2006, but no date has been given for the publication of their final report.
Of the 20 most common elements on Earth, aluminium is the only one not involved in any essential biological process because of its chemical reactivity when in solution, producing very 'sticky' ions which bind to proteins. Aluminium is firmly linked to some temporary forms of dementia. Kidney dialysis patients living in areas where water is high in aluminium sometimes experience 'dialysis dementia', as a result of the large quantities of contaminated water passing through their bodies. The link between aluminium and Alzheimer's disease has been more controversial.
Brain = protein + water, add aluminium ions and...
I was involved in water treatment for several years and I used to handle aluminium sulphate in 'rock' form, I know the effect it had on my lungs and mucous membranes - I hate to think of it having the same effect on the brain. If I get early onset Alzheimer's, I'll be pretty sure of the cause.