Possible Aluminum Content of Canned Drinks

Abstract

Preliminary analyses by a commercial laboratory demonstrated varying amounts of aluminum in a small sampling of canned drinks, which had been stored at 15-20 degrees C., ranging from <0.1 to 74 ppm depending on the product and storage time. Aluminum foil wrap immersed in several drinks demonstrated varying rates of dissolution from nearly zero to 100% over a 7 months period when stored at an incubator temperature of 32-34 degrees C. Should aluminum prove to be of significant pathophysiologic consequence, some consideration should be given to all possible sources, including canned drinks which are consumed in copious quantities. When internal protective coatings are complete and remain intact, the cans stored properly and the contents consumed within a reasonable period of time, there appears to be little basis for concern about the ingestion of aluminum from the consumption of the canned drinks tested, as things now stand.