Please cite this article in press as: Chappard D. Effects of aluminum on cells and tissues. Morphologie (2016), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.morpho.2016.04.001
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EDITORIAL
Effects of aluminum on cells and tissues
Effets cellulaires et tissulaires de l’aluminium
KEYWORDS Aluminum;
Tissulareffects;
Cellulareffects;
Toxicity
MOTSCLÉS Aluminium; Effetstissulaires; Effetscellulaires; Toxicité
Aluminum(Al,alsowrittenaluminium)isthemostabun- dant metal of the earth crust (about 8.2%) although it is neverfound asafreeelementinnature.Thefirstchemist who isolatedthe metal was HD. Oersted in 1825 but the mosteffectiveprocesswasdiscoveredin1886—1888byCM.
Hall,PLT.HéroultandKJ.Bayer.Largeamountsofthemetal wereextractedfrombauxite,analuminum-richorediscov- ered near Les Baux de Provence,in the southernpart of France.Today the Alproduction is about 57,889thousand tonsayear(in2015)[1].Alislargelyusedinvariousindus- tries:transport(25%,i.e.airplanes,boats...),construction (25%, i.e. windows, structures...), packaging (17%; i.e., food,containers,bins,softpackages,foils...)(Fig.1),elec- tricalengineering(10%,i.e.cable,busbars...);machinery andequipment(10%)andotherpurposesincludingcosmetics andfoodadditives...
Alisasoft,light,ductileandmalleablemetalwithalow density(aboutone-thirdofsteel).Ithasagoodresistanceto corrosionduetoathinlayerofaluminumoxidewhichspon- taneouslyformsatthesurfaceofthemetalwhenexposedto airandpreventsfurtheroxidation.However,thisthinlayer isstableinthegeneralpHrange4—9butcorrosioncanbe
Figure1 Someofthemultiplecommercialusesofaluminum inthefoodpackaging.
Quelquesutilisations commercialesdes multiplespossibilités del’aluminiumdansl’emballagealimentaire.
observedin liquids containing dissolvedsalts, particularly chloridesandat highandlowpH[2,3].When oxidized,Al canbehighlyreactive.Theproblemiswellknowninagri- culturewhenAlincreasesinacidifiedwaterandsoils:itcan contaminategrassand otherplantsandsecondarily cattle (85%oftheRwandasoilsareacidandrichinAl)[4].Asim- pleexperimenttomakeathomeconsistsinplacingapiece ofAlfoilinacompartmentofyourdishwasherandtoadda detergentasusual.Theseproductshaveavariablecompo- sitionandusuallycontainphosphonates,sodiumcarbonate, silicachlorineoroxygen bleachingagentstogetherwitha surfactant(tensionactivecompound).Alltheseingredients become veryaggressive at high temperature and high pH andprovokeasurfaceoxidationofthealuminumfoilwith largebrownishstainswithpoorlydefinedcontours.Tosee http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.morpho.2016.04.001
1286-0115/©2016ElsevierMassonSAS.Allrightsreserved.
Please cite this article in press as: Chappard D. Effects of aluminum on cells and tissues. Morphologie (2016), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.morpho.2016.04.001
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2 Editorial
Figure2 VerticalScanningImaging(VSI)ofanaluminumfoil before(A)andafter(B)asinglewashingcycleinadishwasher.
Raistheroughnessindex.
Analyse en microscopie vertical interférentielle (VSI) d’une feuille d’aluminium commerciale (A) avant et (B) après un seulcycle de lavagedans un lave-vaisselle.Ra est un index derugosité.
whatishappeningatthesurfaceofthealuminumfoilafter asinglewashingcycle,weusedVerticalScanningInterfer- ometry(VSIoropticalprofilometry)tomeasureandimage theroughnessofthefoilsamples.Thismicroscopyproduces 3Dtopographicalmapsofthesamplesurfaceandprovides classicalroughnessparameters.InadditionElectronDisper- siveSpectrometry (EDS) coupledwithascanning electron microscopeallows aquantitative analysisof theatoms of thesamples.Fig.2AshowstheVSIanalysisofthebrilliant surface of a new Al foil. The striations produced by the rollingmillareresponsiblefora154nmroughnessandEDS indicatesthatoxygenrepresents1.57%oftheatomsatthe surfaceofthefoil.Afterasinglecycleinthedishwasher,the sameanalysesrevealedapittingcorrosionofthefoilinthe brownishareaswithincreasedroughness(Ra=321nm)and anincreasedAl2O3layerwith51.46%ofthesurfaceatoms beenrepresentedbyoxygen.Suchareactivityofthemetal caninducedeleteriouschangesinthehumanbodybecause notissueandnocellareequippedtoeliminateAlfromthe organism.
Thisspecialissue ofMorphologieprovidesanupdateof thecellularandtissulareffectsofAlinhumans.Theresults
of the research on aluminum are regularly presented at the Keele Symposium, the last one was held in Lille in February—March 2015. We have asked severalof the par- ticipantstoprepareareviewontheirownresearch:
• ChristopherExley,fromKeeleUniversity,UK,willpresent apositionpaperonthegeneraleffectsofAl;
• Romain Ghérardi et al. (Hôpital Henri Mondor, Paris, France)presenttheeffects ofAloxyhydroxide (usedas anadjuvantforvaccines)onthemuscleandtheidentifi- cationofthemacrophagicmyofascitis;
• CécileVignaletal.(UMR995,Lille,France)explorethe effectsofAlonthegut;
• PhilippaDarbre(University of Reading,UK) reviews the effectsofAlonbreastcellsandthesuspectedroleofAl inoncogenesis;
• Walter Lukiw et al. (University of New-Orleans, USA) presentmolecularresultsconcerningtheeffectsofAlin thenervoussystem;
• ourgroupintheUniversityofAngers,Francehasstudied theaccumulationofAlinthebonematrix.
Wehopethatthisspecialissueofourjournalwillinter- estallthemorphologistsandwillopenthemindtofruitful reflections.
Disclosure of interest
Theauthordeclaresthathehasnocompetinginterest.
Acknowledgments
Thanks to Florence Pascaretti (GEROM)for the VSI, Guil- laumeMabilleau(SCIAM)forEDS-SEMandLaurenceLechat forsecretarialassistance.
References
[1]WorldAluminium,http://www.world-aluminium.org/statistics/.
[2]FoleyR.Localizedcorrosionofaluminumalloys—areview.Cor- rosion1986;42:277—88.
[3]DiggleJW,DownieTC,GouldingC.Anodicoxidefilmsonalu- minum.ChemRev1969;69:365—405.
[4]MuhindaJJM,NzeyimanaI,BucaguC,CulotM.Caractérisation physique,chimiqueetmicrobiologiquedetroissolsacidestrop- icauxduRwandasousjachèresnaturellesetcontraintesàleur productivité.BiotechnolAgronomSocEnviron2009;13:545.
D.Chappard Universitéd’Angers,InstitutdeBiologieenSanté, IRIS-IBS,Grouped’ÉtudessurleRemodelageOsseuxetles bioMatériaux(GEROM),49933Angerscedex,France E-mailaddress:daniel.chappard@univ-angers.fr
