Aluminum

What is Aluminum?

CAS#: 007429-90-5

Aluminum is the most abundant metal in the earth’s crust. It is always found combined with other elements such as oxygen, silicon, and fluorine. Aluminum as the metal is obtained from aluminum-containing minerals. Small amounts of aluminum can be found dissolved in water.

Aluminum metal is light in weight and silvery-white in appearance. Aluminum is used for beverage cans, pots and pans, airplanes, siding and roofing, and foil. Aluminum is often mixed with small amounts of other metals to form aluminum alloys, which are stronger and harder.

Aluminum compounds have many different uses, for example, as alums in water-treatment and alumina in abrasives and furnace linings. They are also found in consumer products such as antacids, astringents, buffered aspirin, food additives, and antiperspirants.

Related Resources for Aluminum

• CERCLA Priority List of Hazardous Substances
  Prioritization of substances based on a combination of their frequency, toxicity, and potential for human exposure at National Priorities List (NPL) sites.
  
• Minimal Risk Levels (MRL)
  The MRL is an estimate of the daily human exposure to a hazardous substance that is likely to be without appreciable risk of adverse, non-cancer health effects over a specified duration of exposure. The information in this MRL serves as a screening tool to help public health professionals decide where to look more closely to evaluate possible risk of adverse health effects from human exposure.
  
• Public Health Statement
  Summary about a hazardous substance taken from Chapter One of its respective ATSDR Toxicological Profile.
  
• ToxFAQ
  Fact sheet that answers the most frequently asked questions about a contaminant and its health effects.
  
• Toxicological Profile
  Succinctly characterizes the toxicologic and adverse health effects information for a hazardous substance.
  
top
This page was updated on 09/17/2008