Metal exposures from source materials for artisanal aluminum cookware

ABSTRACT

Artisanal aluminum cookware releases lead and other metals that pose significant health risk for people in low and middle-income countries. Cookware is made from recycled engine and electronic appliance parts, cans, and other materials. We obtained fourteen custom-made pots from Ghana, produced from seven different scrap aluminum sources. We sought to determine whether avoiding certain source materials could reduce leaching of metals. Cooking was simulated using dilute acetic acid and palm oil. Aluminum released from all pots exceeded recommended guidelines. Variable amounts of lead, cadmium, chromium, nickel and other metals were leached, with the most lead coming from auto radiators and mixed metals. Pots made from engine blocks did not yield detectable amounts of lead. All pots released potentially harmful concentrations of two or more metals. Selective scrap aluminum sourcing for recycled cookware does not avoid metal contamination of food, although some sources may release lower concentrations of certain metals.

KEYWORDS:

• Lead
• cadmium
• aluminum
• heavy metals
• artisanal cookware

Abbreviations

AES: Atomic emissionspectroscopy; EU: European Union; ICP: Inductively coupled plasma spectrometry; IDL: Instrument detection limit; LMICs: Low and middle-income countries; MADL: Maximum allowable dose level; MCL: Maximum contaminant level; MS: Massspectrometry; PTWI: Provisionaltolerable weekly intake; SD: Standard deviation; UL: Tolerable upper intakelevel; XRF: X-ray fluorescence

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Funding

The author(s) reported there is no funding associated with the work featured in this article.

Supplementary material

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