HC Deb 21 June 1990 vol 174 cc678-9W
Mr. Simon Hughes

To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he has made an assessment of the health implications of the presence of aluminium in water; and if he will make a statement.

Mr. Dorrell

Aluminium and its salts are of low toxicity, and no disease is known to be caused by aluminium naturally present, or as a result of approved use, in drinking water.

Aluminium in water used for haemodialysis is a recognised cause of degenerative diseases of the bone and brain in patients with chronic renal failure. To avoid this possibility it is standard practice to ensure that water used for dialysis has low levels of aluminium.

Mr. Simon Hughes

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the possible connection between aluminium in water and the onset of Alzheimer's disease; and if he will make a statement.

Mr. Dorrell

The cause or causes of Alzheimer's disease are unknown. However, the question of a possible relationship with aluminium is one of several hypotheses under investigation. The independent expert scientific and medical advisory Committee on Medical Aspects of the contamination of air, soil and water advised in November 1988 that,it has not been established that a reduction in the aluminium intake of the general population would be likely to reduce the incidence of Alzheimer's disease. The association between Alzheimer's disease and aluminium concentrations in drinking-water, suggested by recent studies in Norway and the United Kingdom, was too tentative to justify changes in the use of aluminium sulphate in water treatment, and therefore, further research is important, particularly on the bioavailability of aluminium from all sources".

Research on the bioavailability of aluminium from food and water is in progress at the trace metabolism unit at Southampton with funding from the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food. Further epidemiological and neuropathological research is in progress at the Medical Research Council units in Southampton and Newcastle. Research into Alzheimer's disease in general, and into the aluminium hypothesis in particular, is expanding nationally and internationally. This research will be kept under review.