Bauxite and Aluminum: A Cradle to Grave Analysis

1
Bauxite and Aluminum A Cradle to Grave Analysis

• By Greg Zelder and Sebastian Africano
• Race, Poverty, and the Environment
• Professor Raquel R. Pinderhughes
• Urban Studies Program
• San Francisco State University
• Spring, 2003
• Public has permission to use the material herein,
  but only if author, course, university, and
  professor are cited

2

• This presentation focuses on the extraction and
  refinement of Bauxite, followed by the
  production, consumption, and disposal of
  Aluminum.
• It is designed to enhance the readers awareness
  of the realities behind aluminum consumption by
  examining the effects of its production on the
  people and environment of the planet. It takes
  you through the cradle to grave lifecycle of
  aluminum, paying particular attention to the
  social, environmental, and public health impacts
  of the processes associated with producing it.

3
Contents, Part I, slides 4 - 47

• Geology
• History of Bauxite Use
• Social Impacts of Bauxite Mining
• Case Studies
• India
• Haiti
• General Impacts of Bauxite Mining
• Environmental Impacts of Bauxite Mining

4
Contents Part II, slides 48 - 85

• Distribution of Bauxite
• Aluminum Smelting Inputs Processes
• Spent Pot Lining (SPL)
• Energy and Resource Use in Al Smelting
• Aluminum Smelter Emissions
• Exposure to Fluorides
• Exposure to Aluminum
• Aluminum in Food and Water
• Aluminum in Medicine
• From aluminum Metals to Consumer Products
• Aluminum and Recycling
• Conclusion

5
Geology of Bauxite

• Bauxite ore is the most abundant element found in
  the earth's crust, although the word bauxite is
  used to describe any material that contains more
  than 32 percent alumina1.

A Bauxite rock with impurities

• http//www.hs.wisd.org/ddaughenbaugh/Pictures/alco
  a_aluminum_smelter_and_mine.htm

6
Geology of Bauxite

• Dislodged rock particulates in areas of heavy
  rainfall percolate down to the water table, where
  aluminum silicate compounds accumulate and
  pressure causes them to coalesce.
• In this form the compounds are what we consider
  bauxite2.

7
Geology of Bauxite

• There are three main structural types of bauxite
• Gibbsite
• Böhmite
• Diaspore
• Each of these three types of bauxite has
  different characteristics that make them more or
  less desirable for mining purposes.

8
Geology of Bauxite

• Gibbsite has a maximum alumina content of 65.4
• Böhmite and diaspore both have a maximum alumina
  content of 853.
• Of the bauxites currently being mined, the
  dominant form is gibbsite, followed by a mixture
  of gibbsite and böhmite.
• The main impurities are compounds of iron,
  silicon and titanium4.

9
Geology of Bauxite

• The three structural differences of Bauxite can
  be further categorized into two groups, the
  difference being in the water content of each5
• Monohydrates
• trihydrates
• Trihydrates are comprised of gibbsite and böhmite
  and are found in Latin America and Caribbean
  areas6.
• Deposits of desirable bauxite occur as flat
  layers lying near the surface and may cover many
  miles - the average thickness of these layers is
  4-6 meters7.

10
History of Bauxite Use

• Bauxite was used long before it was ever refined
  into aluminum.
• In Guyana it was used to build homes with the
  so-called "brown-mud" that would later be called
  bauxite.
• These deposits were also used to make pots and
  plates, along with using it as a plaster for
  homes8 .

11
History of Bauxite Use

• It was not until 1825 that western cultures
  devised a way to make aluminum from bauxite. The
  Danish Chemist, Hans Oerstad was able to isolate
  a small amount of aluminum from bauxite9 .
• Over the next few decades new procedures were
  introduced that lowered the cost of aluminum,
  however it was still used only for jewelry
  purposes10 .

12
History of Bauxite Use

• It was not until 1886 that the Hall-Heroult
  electrolytic process, which is used to make
  aluminum from alumina, was discovered.
• In 1889 Karl Bayer introduced the Bayer process
  of extracting mass amounts of alumina from
  bauxite11 .

13
History of Bauxite Use

• Four to six tons of bauxite are needed to produce
  two tons of alumina which in turn produces one
  ton of aluminum12 .
• In 1998, the total area mined for bauxite was
  1591 hectares (3929.77 acres) of which 80 was
  wildlife habitat, 175 hectares (432.25 acres) was
  tropical rainforest and 577 hectares (1425.19
  acres) possessed important fauna species13.

14
Alumina Production

• According to Persaud, in the Bayer Alumina
  reduction process
• "The bauxite is first ground and mixed with
  chemicals (sodium hydroxide/caustic soda, lime).
  Then it is pumped into huge pressure containers
  and heated, after which more chemicals (lime to
  regenerate caustic soda) are added, and hydrated
  alumina crystallizes from the solution after
  being seeded with other (trihydrate alumina)
  crystals. These crystals are then washed and
  heated at very high temperatures to drive off the
  moisture until a white powder remains. This is
  the alumina or aluminum oxide14,15

15
Alumina Production, cont.

• The OSHA filed Material Safety Data Sheet for
  Caustic Soda lists it as a highly reactive
  alkaloid dangerous to human health.
• Effects of exposure to Caustic Soda
• ACUTE OVEREXPOSURE Corrosive to all body tissues
  with which it comes in contact.
• CHRONIC OVEREXPOSURE Chronic local effect may
  consist of multiple areas of superficial
  destruction of the skin or of primary irritant
  dermatitis.
• Inhalation of dust, spray or mist may result in
  varying degrees of irritation or damage to the
  respiratory tract tissues and an increased
  susceptibility to respiratory illness16.

16
Alumina Production, cont

• Courtesy of http//www.hs.wisd.org/ddaughenbaugh/
  Pictures/alcoa_aluminum_smelter_and_mine.htm

17
The World's Bauxite Sources

• Courtesy of http//www.hs.wisd.org/ddaughenbaugh/
  Pictures/alcoa_aluminum_smelter_and_mine.htm

18
Social Impacts associated with Bauxite Mining

• the social impacts of bauxite mining and
  production are harder to quantify.
• One must look at the societies that were living
  in bauxite rich areas before mining started, and
  also what happened to those societies after the
  development of a mining operation.
• In many cases, the societies that were living on
  the land that was found to be rich in bauxite
  were indigenous cultures that had lived on the
  land for centuries prior to the discovery.

19
Social Impacts associated with Bauxite Mining

• Upon the discovery of bauxite, however, the
  people and cultures that relied on the land were
  displaced at the hands of the government.
• Young people were forced to go to urban areas to
  make a living for the families, the land
  previously depended upon for agriculture was
  ravaged, and basically the fabric of the cultures
  was torn apart.

20
Social Impacts associated with Bauxite Mining

• How and why does this happen?
• Is it necessary?
• What is the role of the governments in these
  situations?
• To answer these questions one must look at
  specific cases.

21
Case Study India

• In India the "problem" of indigenous cultures
  occupying bauxite-rich land has become a flash
  point of violence among the population and
  government.
• In 1998 the Norwegian company Norsk-Hydro found
  bauxite in Orissa, a state in India. The problem
  for the company was that 2100 families in 24
  villages stood in the way17.
• Out of Orissa's 32 million people, seven million
  are aboriginal, and are concentrated in the
  mineral-rich Raigada, Koraput and Kalahandi
  districts where they make up 80 percent of the
  population18.

22
Case Study India

• In Orissa alone there are nearly 150 million
  acres of once arable or homestead land that is
  currently being mined and there are an estimated
  50,000 environmental refugees19.
• Tribal or aboriginal people in India only make up
  8 percent of the population but account for more
  than 40 percent of it's displaced people20.

23
Case Study India

• In India the tribes, not the central government,
  control tribal land. This means that the tribes
  must decide whether the mining companies can be
  allowed to mine.
• A local environmental group in the area organized
  a poll that showed that 96 percent of the people
  in the district were against the bauxite
  project21 .

24
Case Study India

• The police in the area have taken up arms against
  the local people, apparently working for the
  company's interests, and have arrested nearly
  every land owner at least once and pressured them
  to sign away their lands22 .

25
Case Study India

• In December of 2000 there were riots against the
  company and their plans to mine the region, in
  which two men were killed by police23 .
• Human rights organizations believe that
  Norsk-Hydro was complicit in the killings because
  as the police have pressured the local people to
  sign away their lands, they have essentially
  become an unofficial subsidiary of the
  corporation.
• If the corporation is found to be complicit it
  would be in violation of principles one and two
  of the United Nations Global Compact24 .

26
Case Study India

• Principle one of the Compact states that
  corporations agree to support and respect the
  protection of international human rights within
  their sphere of influence
• Principle two requires corporations to make sure
  their own corporations are not complicit in human
  rights abuses. 25

27
Case Study India

• These allegations point to the larger problem of
  how large transnational corporations interact
  with local peoples in their quest for natural
  resources and raw material.
• Local communities are not seen as being
  inherently needed by the country rather, all
  that is seen is the negligence of the local
  people in not taking advantage of the resources
  that they own.

28
Case Study India

• Because of this perceived negligence, foreign
  investors see the situation as one in which it is
  their duty to the global economy (not to mention
  their pocket books) that they exploit these
  areas.
• In many cases the plight of the indigenous
  cultures are not taken into account by either the
  company or the government, leaving one to
  consider the interactions between the respective
  governments and corporations.

29
Case Study Haiti

• Following the discovery of Bauxite in Jamaica in
  1943, companies were looking into the possibility
  of bauxite being present in other Latin America
  islands.
• In the summer of that year Reynolds Metals
  Company found bauxite in Haiti and proceeded to
  sign a concession contract with the Haitian
  government26 .

30
Case Study Haiti

• Like most contracts between transnational
  corporations and governments of less developed
  countries, the contract was very one-sided in
  favor of the corporation.
• The contract granted Reynolds exclusive rights
  of privilege of making researches and of
  exploiting bauxite minerals and all other
  minerals containing or which may contain
  aluminum, with practically the entire area of
  Haiti being specified27 .

31
Case Study Haiti

• The agreement was to extend to 60 years after the
  signing, forcing the government to accept terms
  at an early stage of the bargaining process which
  may not have been suitable in the future.
• The main factor behind the acceptance of these
  terms was the fact that the United States
  government gave support to Reynolds negotiations
  for two main reasons
• demand for aluminum had grown due to World War II
  and,
• at the time, the U.S. government was trying to
  break the monopoly of Alcoa in the aluminum
  industry28 .

32
Case Study Haiti

• Along with the nudging of the U.S. government,
  there were other reasons that the Haitian
  government believed that the contract would be
  good for the country
• Included in the contract was the promise of
  employment (even though the company only had to
  hire unskilled workers and no training for
  managerial or administrative positions was
  offered)29.
• The country was to also receive a royalty payment
  tied to the production of bauxite - at the time
  the royalty amounted to 30.5 cents per 1000
  kilos30.
• In 1963 the contract was renegotiated and the
  royalty was actually lowered to 20 cents per
  ton31!

33
Case Study Haiti

• The government also believed that the company
  would add to the countrys infrastructure.
• All the country received in terms of
  infrastructure was an 8-mile road connecting the
  mine to the port, which was only used to ship the
  refined alumina to the United States - the road
  had little effect on the economy as a whole32 .
• The company also built a power plant, water
  supply infrastructure, and a hospital to be used
  by the company and its employees only33 .

34
Case Study Haiti

• Along with these oversights by the government,
  the biggest, in relation to the population, was
  that the government agreed to help prevent
  strikes, creating an unsettling alliance to stop
  even the most basic forms of labor empowerment.
• It is necessary to mention that the number of
  people employed by Reynolds was small in relation
  to the rest of the workforce (approximately 0.5)
  of 45,000 workers34.

35
Case Study Haiti

• This kind of agreement reinforces the notion of
  complicity when it comes to the dealings of
  governments, especially those in developing
  nations who are dependant on industrialization,
  and transnational corporations who have no
  accountability to the citizens of the countries
  in which they extract their resources.

36
Impacts associated with Bauxite Mining

• In the early days of bauxite mining, hydraulic
  strip mining was used to retrieve the bauxite35
• Hydraulic strip mining is the process of using
  high-powered streams of water to dislodge rocks
  and minerals that are then collected downstream.
• This process is very damaging to the environment
  because of the large amount of silt that is
  created and that flows into nearby waterways.

37
Impacts associated with Bauxite Mining

• With time it was shown that a much more
  economically viable way of mining bauxite was to
  simply create an open pit where the bauxite,
  along with the surrounding materials could be
  hauled away36.

38
Impacts associated with Bauxite Mining
Digging Up the Bauxite (Along with everything
else)

• Courtesy of http//www.hs.wisd.org/ddaughenbaugh/
  Pictures/alcoa_aluminum_smelter_and_mine.htm

39
Impacts associated with Bauxite Mining
The Bucket from the previous slide

• Courtesy of http//www.hs.wisd.org/ddaughenbaugh/
  Pictures/alcoa_aluminum_smelter_and_mine.htm

40
Impacts associated with Bauxite Mining

• Bauxite is now generally extracted with this
  method by removing the topsoil and then hauling
  away the 4-6 meters of bauxite underneath.
• 80 of the world's bauxite is mined from blanket
  deposits where open-pit mining is used37.
• The other 20 comes from Southern Europe and
  Hungary where underground excavation is
  utilized38.

41
Impacts associated with Bauxite Mining

• According to the industry, after the mining is
  completed the habitat is returned to its normal
  state39.
• This may be the case, but the original disruption
  is so great that one may wonder if it is possible
  to return a mined area to its original state.

42
Impacts associated with Bauxite Mining

• Because of the high alumina content of bauxite
  there is no need to use highly polluting
  procedures in the separation such as those in
  other industries (e.g. copper or iron)40.
• The main pollutants that are released are caustic
  acids which, through spills or dumping, make
  their way to creeks and rivers and cause
  "fish-kill, where "dead fish can be seen
  floating on the water,41.

43
Impacts associated with Bauxite Mining

• The most noticeable impacts of mining and
  production is red-dust (sometimes referred to as
  red-mud).
• Red-dust is mainly a by-product of the Bayer
  process, composed of the impurities in the
  bauxite that are not dissolved in the refining
  process.
• The amount that is generated per ton of alumina
  produced varies between 0.3 tons to 2.5 tons,
  depending on the grade of bauxite used42
• Red-dust is non-toxic, although it is highly
  alkaline, but the lakes that it is stored in have
  been noted to produce a "harsh smell that is
  offensive and suffocating43
• The dust is so fine that it "pollutes the air and
  finally settles in the most secret parts of
  homes,44"

44
Impacts associated with Bauxite Mining

• Recently an Australian researcher found a way to
  utilize red-dust in an ecologically sound manner.
  
• Instead of just dumping the dust into specially
  formed lakes, he mixes it with seawater to make
  an alkaline sludge.
• This sludge can then be used to "mop up" the
  heavy metals left in the tailings of other mining
  operations45.

45
Impacts associated with Bauxite Mining

• Another type of pollution that is produced by
  bauxite mining is noise pollution from all of the
  machinery that is needed and from the production
  facilities that run 24 hours a day46.
• Most workers from the mines and production
  facilities live near their worksites with their
  families - the operations run incessantly,
  creating a near-urban racket in otherwise rural
  areas.

46
Impacts associated with Bauxite Mining

• Environmental damage also comes in the form of
  increased development.
• In Haiti the Reynolds corporation built an 8-mile
  road from the production facility to the port, a
  power plant, water supply buildings and a
  hospital, not to mention housing for all of the
  workers, all in a very remote part of the tiny
  island-nation that hadn't been developed before47
  .
• The development disrupted major portions of the
  tropical forest surrounding the bauxite mine48.

47
Impacts associated with Bauxite Mining

• Generally speaking, alumina (Al2O3 - aluminum
  oxide) is the base input material used to make
  aluminum for all applications.
• After all of the production of alumina is
  complete, it is shipped to industrialized nations
  where it is made into aluminum.
• The shipping involves immense fossil fuel
  consumption and emissions and, less obviously,
  involves the transport of ballast water
  contaminated with foreign bacteria and sea life
  to the industrialized port destination, causing
  irreparable ecological harm.

48
Distribution of Bauxite

• After its production from raw bauxite, the
  powdered alumina is transported to a primary
  aluminum smelter.
• Alumina produced in East Asia could be sent to a
  smelter in the Pacific Northwest an ocean
  journey of 5000 miles. Alumina produced in
  Jamaica could be shipped to a smelter in
  Tennessee a journey of only 1400 miles by
  comparison.
• Different aluminum products call for varying
  compositional percentages of specific alloys,
  which could determine which plant receives what
  quantities of alumina, and from where.

49
Below is a map of Alcoas Worldwide Operating
Locationswww.alcoa.com/globa/en/about_alcoa/map/g
lobalmap.aspl
50
Aluminum Smelting Inputs and Processes

• Alumina (AL2O3 Aluminum Oxide) is reduced to
  pure aluminum metal through the Hall-Heroult
  electrolytic process named after its inventors.
  
• The alumina is dissolved by passing an electric
  current between two nodes a carbon anode ()
  made of petroleum coke and pitch, and a cathode
  (-), the thick carbon lining of the electrolytic
  cell, or pot49.
• The pot contains both the aluminum oxide powder
  and a molten cryolite-based electrolyte, sodium
  aluminum fluoride, which is used as the conductor
  of electricity50.
• The electric current is passed between the two
  nodes, breaking the aluminum and oxygen bond of
  alumina, and leaving pure aluminum metal and
  oxygen the latter which combines with the
  carbon anode to form CO2, which is released into
  the atmosphere51.

51
Aluminum Smelting Inputs and Processes

• Aluminum is formed at 900C - a temperature that
  requires 150,000 amperes of electricity to be
  reached52.
• Once the aluminum in the pot is molten, it is
  siphoned off into holding furnaces, either to be
  mixed to an alloy specification, or cleaned and
  cast into ingots the primary unit of aluminum
  fabrication53.
• Pots are set up in lines of 150-300 pots, each
  pot producing between 360-2350 kg of Al per
  day54.

• Aluminum Ingots www.ingot.alcan.com
  

52
Spent Pot Lining (SPL)

• The carbon cathode lining in the pots experience
  constant wear and are periodically discarded.
• Spent pot lining (SPL) is treated as hazardous
  waste because it contains traces of absorbed
  fluoride as well as cyanide, two substances known
  as toxic to humans55.
• Approximately 20 tons of SPL are produced for
  every 1000 tons of aluminum produced its
  disposal is the largest environmental problem of
  the aluminum industry56.
• Currently SPL is disposed of in landfills, but
  worldwide concern about the safety of this
  practice, due to leaching potential, has caused
  it to be stockpiled around the world for later
  use or disposal57
• Research is currently being conducted, having
  reached costs of 26 million, to determine if the
  SPL could be re-used as the molten electrolytic
  conductor in the smelting process58.

53
Energy and Resource Use in Aluminum Smelting

• Aluminum smelters are located in areas where
  electricity can be produced in abundance at a
  reasonable price
• Typically this means locating the smelter near a
  hydroelectric dam, coal source, nuclear energy
  plant, or building an energy source in
  conjunction with and specifically for the
  production facility
• Over 55 of the energy used in aluminum
  production worldwide comes from hydro-electric
  sources59.

• Chief Joseph Dam, Columbia River, Washington
  Second Largest Hydroelectric Dam in the United
  States
• http//www.nws.usace.army.mil/opdiv/cj/Chiefjo.htm
  

54
Energy and Aluminum, cont

• To produce one kilogram of aluminum from alumina
  requires approximately 15.7 Kilowatt Hours of
  electricity -- this is roughly the same amount
  used to power an average California home per
  day60,61.
• In the U.S. aluminum industrys prime,
  electricity consumption rates for aluminum
  producers matched that of New York City -- it is
  currently producing 1,000,000 metric tons less
  per year than it did 5 years ago, due to
  increased energy costs, market fluctuations, and
  subsequent plant closings in the Pacific
  Northwest62.
• The U.S. produced about 11.4 billion kilograms of
  aluminum in 2001, equating to the use of roughly
  179 billion Kilowatt hours of electricity63.

55
Energy and Aluminum, cont

• Hydroelectric dams, while being one of the
  cleaner forms of electricity production, also
  flood natural habitats upon construction, erode
  riverbeds, alter natural flooding and flow
  patterns of rivers, inhibit natural fish runs,
  and displace communities around the world
• In Brazil, where 93 of energy comes from
  hydroelectricity, a total land area larger than
  the country of Belgium has been flooded by dam
  building, displacing countless communities of
  indigenous peoples64.
• In pristine southern Chile, roughly 25,000 acres
  of native habitat and 40 families are threatened
  by the intended construction of three
  hydroelectric dams designed to power the proposed
  Noranda Alumysa Aluminum Smelter65.

56
Energy and Aluminum, cont

• Combustion of coal is the second major energy
  source for aluminum production.
• The Alcoa Aluminum Smelter in Rockdale, TX
  requires 36 million pounds of coal to fuel its
  operations EACH DAY66.
• It gets its coal from the Sandow Lignite Coal
  Mine in Central Texas, removing 250 vertical feet
  of soil in 100 cubic yard scoops at a time to
  reach the coal a common dump truck we would
  recognize at a construction site carries between
  5-7 cubic yards67.

57

• In one year, a typical 500 Megawatt coal fired
  power plant
• Burns 1.4 million tons of coal
• Uses 2.2 billion gallons of water
• Generates 10,000 tons of sulfur dioxide and
  10,200 tons of nitrogen oxide
• Produces
• 3.7 million tons of carbon dioxide
• 500 tons of small particulate matter
• 220 tons of hydrocarbons
• 720 tons of carbon monoxide
• 125,000 tons of ash
• 193,000 tons of sludge
• 170 pounds of mercury
• 225 pounds of arsenic
• 114 pounds of lead and
• 4 pounds of cadmium68

58
Aluminum Smelter Emissions Health Effects on
Human, Animal, and Plant Communities

• The electrolytic reduction cells (pot line) are
  the major source of the air emissions in an
  aluminum smelter, including gaseous and
  particulate fluorides, sulfur and carbon
  dioxides, and various dusts, with the gaseous and
  particulate fluorides being of prime concern69.

59
Exposure to Fluorides

• Around the globe, a number of cases have been
  documented illustrating the negative effects of
  fluoride emissions from aluminum production.
• The International Program on Chemical Safety
  (IPCS), a program of the World Health
  Organization, has listed the effects of fluorides
  on biotic communities as completely destructive,
  absorbed through the respiratory or
  gastrointestinal tract of humans and/or animals
  and deposited almost exclusively in the bones
  and teeth70.

60
Exposure to Fluorides, cont

• Unicef describes the symptoms of skeletal
  fluorosis as follows
• Chronic intake of excessive fluoride can lead to
  the severe and permanent bone and joint
  deformations of skeletal fluorosis. Early
  symptoms include sporadic pain and stiffness of
  joints, headache, stomach ache, and muscle
  weakness The next stage is osteosclerosis
  (hardening and calcifying of the bones) and
  finally the spine, major joints, muscles, and
  nervous system are damaged71.

61
Exposure to Fluorides, cont

• In India, China, and parts of Northern, Eastern,
  Central, and South Africa, the occurrence of
  endemic skeletal fluorosis has been classified as
  high, by the WHOs IPCS program, due to
  elevated levels of fluoride in drinking water,
  preparation of food in fluoridated water, and
  burning fluoride rich coal72.

• A victim of skeletal fluorosis http//nalgonda.org
  /images/flourine/pic19.jpg

62
Exposure to Fluorides, cont

• A study done in the Indian State of Orissa cites
  that aluminum smelting, which consumes 30 of
  the power produced in the region, has
  contaminated the groundwater around aluminum
  smelters...the state pollution control board
  tested water wells and ponds (local to the plant)
  and found fluoride well in excess of the
  regulatory limit73.
• In this particular vicinity of Orissa, an
  estimated 67 of men and 64 of women suffer from
  fluorosis, and cattle populations have dropped
  precipitously as a result of over-fluoridation74
  .

63
Exposure to Fluorides, cont

• A villager living in view of a Chalco (Aluminum
  Corporation of China) aluminum smelter in Tibet,
  was quoted in an article on the Fluoride Action
  Network website as saying
• The smoke settles on the hillsides. If we
  let our sheep or donkeys out to graze, their
  teeth turn yellow and brittle, then fall out.
  Our animals starve, and we lose our
  livelihood75.

64
Exposure to Fluorides, cont

• The IPCS report also states that anthropogenic
  sources of fluoride have been shown to be
  correlated with damage to local terrestrial plant
  communities ...fluoride induced effects, such as
  lameness and tooth damage, have also been
  reported in wild ungulates, such as deer, and in
  small mammals close to anthropogenic sources of
  fluoride76.

65
Exposure to Fluorides, cont

• Workers in the aluminum production industry are
  also at great risk of being exposed to fluorides.
• Risk of exposure, to a detrimental end, usually
  depends on the degrees of precaution exercised by
  both the workers and the plant. The use of
  protective equipment and good ventilation during
  work lessen the occupational risk.

66
Exposure to Aluminum

• The IPCS report on Aluminum maintains that
  aluminum concentrations in the air that would
  affect the general public are low and
  negligible77.
• Most of the aluminum in the air enters the
  atmosphere as soil derived dust, as aluminum
  represents 8 of the earths crust by
  composition78.
• While exposure to aluminum dust particles for
  process and production workers are estimated at
  lt1mg/8hr shift, and for welders 40mg/8hr shift,
  exposure for the general population is estimated
  at 40 micrograms daily (1mg 1000 micrograms)79.

67
Exposure to Aluminum, cont

• Acute exposures to aluminum dust in laboratory
  animals were shown to produce developmental
  problems, mutagenic effects, and neurotoxic
  effects including
• skeletal malformations,
• interference with DNA replication, and
• learning performance impairment80
• These effects, however, were a result of acute
  exposures, which produce more marked effects than
  gradual exposure over time.
• Effects of chronic exposure upon process and
  production workers can include shortness of
  breath, weakness, and cough, potentially
  increasing the risk of emphysema and lung
  fibrosis81.

68
Exposure to Aluminum, cont

• Excessive exposure to aluminum has also been
  positively correlated to Alzheimers Disease in
  various studies, but a definitive link and
  subsequent consensus still eludes the medical
  community.
• Insoluble aluminosilicate (the naturally occuring
  element combination of aluminum and silicon) can
  be made into a toxic, soluble aluminum ion (Al3)
  in an acidic condition, thereby allowing it to
  be absorbed by the bloodstream upon its
  consumption in drinking water and foods82.
• As the function of the Blood Brain Barrier
  retards with age, Al3 in the bloodstream is able
  to enter and accumulate in the brain83.
• The incidence of aluminum in the brains of
  Alzheimers victims has caused the concern of a
  connection to be raised, but no definitive link
  has been established.

69
Aluminum in Food and Water

• Exposure to aluminum is unavoidable it is a
  ubiquitous, naturally occurring, and abundant
  element.
• 95 of aluminum intake by humans takes place in
  the consumption of food and water84.
• 90 of this aluminum is excreted by normal human
  processes within 4 months85.
• The remaining 10 is either secreted, or absorbed
  by the skeletal or renal systems, or by the
  brain86.

70
Aluminum in Food and Water, cont

• Examples of how aluminum is present in food
  include
• The use of aluminum ammonium sulfate as a
  buffering agent used to maintain acidity during
  food processing
• Aluminum calcium silicate as an anti-caking agent
  to prevent food powders from compacting
• Aluminum compounds added to frozen strawberries,
  maraschino cherries, and pickles to improve their
  appearance
• Aluminum salts sometimes added to processed
  cheeses and beer
• Naturally aluminum rich foods including potato
  skins, spinach, prune juice, and teas87
• Consumption of aluminum in conjunction with
  certain acidic foods and drinks, such as orange
  juice, coffee, and wine, significantly increases
  the uptake of aluminum by the bodys systems88.

71
Aluminum in Food and Water, cont

• Surface water treatment plants use aluminum
  sulfate to treat harmful colloidal matter
  particles and water born microorganisms by
  causing them to coagulate, thus making them
  easier to filter out89.
• A study by the Australian Institute for
  Biomedical Research determined that over a period
  of seven or eight decades of drinking aluminum
  treated tap water, a microgram of aluminum would
  accumulate in the human brain90.

72
Aluminum in Medicine

• Aluminum hydroxide is used widely as an antacid
  to reduce gastrointestinal distress91.
• Aluminum intake from antacids results in
  ingestion levels of 840 - 5000mg/day (recommended
  max. weekly intake for a 130 lb adult is
  420mg/day)92.
• Aluminum salts are used to stimulate the level
  and duration of immunity boosting antibodies
  provided by a vaccine93.
• Also, soluble aluminum compounds are used in
  antiperspirants forming an aluminum hydroxide
  plug within the human sweat duct94.

73
From Aluminum Metals to Consumer Products

• As described earlier in this report, once the
  aluminum in the pot is molten, it is siphoned off
  into holding furnaces, either to be blended to an
  alloy specification or cleaned and cast into
  ingots.
• Ingots are grouped by specification and sold to
  the markets in which aluminum is used.
• Primarily this includes the transportation sector
  (32), the packaging sector (21), the
  construction sector (13), and the electrical
  sector95.

74
NOTE

• The effects associated with the production of
  these consumer goods is secondary to the purposes
  of this report, therefore will not be discussed.
  The reader should instead note how aluminum is
  used, and where the opportunities lie for
  producing and using less of it.

75
The Transportation Sector

• The transportation sector is the largest market
  for aluminum in the United States96.
• Aluminum recently passed plastic as the third
  most-used material in automobiles97.
• Studies show that replacing 2 pounds of steel
  with 1 pound of aluminum to make a vehicle
  lighter can save 20 pounds of CO2 emissions over
  the life of that vehicle98.
• The body of cars as well as components of the
  engine are now typically made, in part, from
  aluminum99.

76
The Transportation Sector, cont

• Aluminum is the primary material used in
  aircraft, subway cars, freight railroad cars, and
  light high-speed-rail cars as well.
• Aluminum or aluminum alloys are used in airplanes
  to lower the planes weight, save fuel, reduce
  emissions, and increase the planes payload100.
• Over 80 of an aircrafts weight is aluminum101.

77
The Packaging Sector

• Containers and packaging rank second in the
  market for aluminum use.
• Aluminums lightness helps reduce the costs of
  transporting packaged consumer goods and further
  reduces emissions from transporting goods.
• Aluminum is touted as an indispensable packaging
  item because of the benefits it possesses
• Heat conductivity - Strength
• Hygiene - Impermeability
• Non-toxicity - Corrosion resistance
• Deadfold (stays wrapped around food items without
  needing further sealing)102

78
Aluminum in Cookware

• Today about half of all cookware sold is made of
  aluminum - the potential for aluminum cookware to
  leach aluminum into foods has been scrutinized
  and debated over for decades103.
• A recent study done at the University of Surrey
  in Australia have found levels of leached
  aluminum between 1.5-3 parts per million for
  wine, and 9.4 ppm in apple juice stored in
  aluminum containers for two years104.
• Soft drinks in aluminum cans show levels of
  aluminum 6 times higher than the same soft drink
  stored in bottles105.
• Beef cooked in aluminum increases its aluminum
  content by 38 times106.

79
Aluminum and Recycling

• The most promising, and perhaps the most
  controversial aspect surrounding aluminum is the
  fact that it can be recycled indefinitely 2/3
  of the aluminum ever produced since 1886 is still
  in use107!
• This does not change the fact that between 1990
  and 2000, 7.1 million tons of aluminum cans (only
  cans!) were wasted enough to reproduce the
  worlds commercial air fleet 25 times108!
• At an avg scrap value of .58/lb, this represents
  8.236 billion in lost revenue just in cans109!

80
Aluminum Cans Wasted in the U.S., 1970 2001
total 903 billion cans
81
Aluminum and Recycling, cont

• Recycling aluminum saves 95 of the energy used
  to produce aluminum from bauxite mainly because
  it cuts out the energy intensive smelting
  processes110.
• Recycling also reduces 95 of the greenhouse
  emissions put out by the aluminum industry111.
• If the 50.7 billion aluminum cans wasted in 2001
  had been recycled, energy equivalent to 16
  million barrels of crude oil would have been
  saved enough to power 2.7 million U.S. homes,
  or over 1 million cars for a year112!
• Also, emissions of 75,000 tons of sulfur dioxide
  and nitrogen oxide would have been prevented113.

82
Aluminum and Recycling, cont

• The Bottle Bill Resource Guide states that,
  Bottle bills are a proven, sustainable method of
  capturing beverage bottles and cans for
  recycling. The refund value of the container
  (usually 5 or 10 cents) provides a monetary
  incentive to return the container for
  recycling114.
• In the 10 states where Bottle Bill legislation
  exists, approximately 85 of cans get recycled,
  compared with about 50 in the remaining 40
  states115.
• Bottle bills generally shift the costs of litter
  cleanup, recycling and waste disposal from
  government and taxpayers to the producers and
  consumers of beverage containers116.
• This, in effect, places responsibility on the
  industry that creates a wasteful product in the
  disposal or recycling of that product117.  

83
Aluminum and Recycling, cont

• A 1996 report by the U.S. Public Interest
  Research Group revealed that the beverage
  industry spent over 14 million dollars between
  1989 and 1994 to defeat any attempts of a
  national bottle bill being passed, outspending
  proponents 301118.
• Bottle bill opponents, as listed on the Consumer
  Recycling Institutes Bottle Bill Resource Guide,
  include beverage container manufacturers, soft
  drink bottlers, beer, wine and liquor
  distributors and retail grocers119.
• California Senate Bill 23, which would double
  redemption rates for containers in CA, is
  currently being debated and voted upon. A
  University of California study estimates that its
  passing would boost recycling rates to 80
  diverting approximately 8,058 more tons of
  aluminum from landfill than are diverted
  currently in California120.

84
Conclusion

• As we have seen, aluminum pervades almost every
  aspect of our society and lives. It affects what
  and how we eat, drink, consume, travel, and live
  day-to-day.
• This report was designed to inform consumers
  about the processes involved in producing
  aluminum, and how these processes and their
  subsequent effects could be averted through
  recycling and the practice of consuming more
  responsibly.

85
Conclusion, cont

• As aluminum can be recycled indefinitely without
  degrading in quality, wasting it in the manner
  that we do creates avoidable, unnecessary, and
  immeasurable impacts on the earth, its people,
  and its biotic communities via the destructive
  and resource intensive processes of aluminum
  production.
• Educating the global public on the negative
  effects of aluminum production and the benefits
  of recycling and conservation will systematically
  increase positive and sustainable practices
  around resource use to the benefit of the entire
  planet.

86
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87
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88
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90
Bibliography, Part II

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91
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92
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• 67. ibid
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• 83. ibid
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95
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96
Bibliography, Part II, cont

• 102. ibid
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97
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