Aluminum oxide is not magnetic, but the iron oxide (presumably bonded to the other ingredients) is magnetic.
> discrete nanoflakes of (Al2O3@v-MoS2)/Cu/Fe3O4
I guess your point is that we had better prove with absolute certainty that this is a problem before we try to do something about it, since it would be a bit expensive to rework the entire world's plumbing and pointless to target anything short of that.
My point is basically we are doomed for this, c'est la vie, live your life, probably something else will be taking you out at the end of the day anyhow.
"In the Earth's crust, aluminium is the most abundant metallic element (8.23% by mass)"
"The powder consists of nano-size flakes of aluminum oxide, molybdenum sulfide, copper, and iron oxide."
Because Aluminium is extremely common in the earth, it's also impossible to avoid ingesting it.
Further info at [1]: https://alzheimer.ca/en/about-dementia/how-can-i-prevent-dem...
https://www.statnews.com/2019/06/25/alzheimers-cabal-thwarte...
> The scientists described the frustrating, even career-ending, obstacles that they confronted in pursuing their research. A top journal told one that it would not publish her paper because others hadn’t. Another got whispered advice to at least pretend that the research for which she was seeking funding was related to the leading idea — that a protein fragment called beta-amyloid accumulates in the brain, creating neuron-killing clumps that are both the cause of Alzheimer’s and the key to treating it. Others could not get speaking slots at important meetings, a key showcase for research results. Several who tried to start companies to develop Alzheimer’s cures were told again and again by venture capital firms and major biopharma companies that they would back only an amyloid approach.
> “I don’t think there was a purposeful attempt to scuttle other approaches,” Selkoe added. Or as Aisen put it last week on the sidelines of the Aspen Ideas Festival, “I don’t think I’m part of a cabal.”
> It isn’t hard to understand why hundreds of academics lined up behind the amyloid model over the years, Fitzpatrick said. “Once a field commits to a particular hypothesis, the research resources — funding, experimental models, and training — all get in line,” she wrote in a 2018 analysis. That brings backers of the dominant idea accolades, awards, lucrative consulting deals, and well-paid academic appointments. Admitting doubt, let alone error, would be not only be a blow to the ego but also a threat to livelihood.
Because something is difficult doesn't mean it's okay to rationalize more of it. Marketing something as "nontoxic" has a storied history of failure. DDT for one.
Cost/benefit analysis always. Perhaps in a survival or humanitarian crisis situation the risks of water-borne diseases would be far greater.
Measure the amount of aluminum in the powder before and after. And/or measure the amount of aluminum added to the water too.
You're going to have to do some testing similar to this anyway since you need to know how long the stuff stays effective. At some point it could wear out and lose its germ-killing powers. Or maybe it doesn't, but you need to know that.
While calcium fluoride is safe when consumed.
Epidemiological studies suggest that aluminium may not be as innocuous as was previously thought and that aluminium may actively promote the onset and progression of Alzheimer's disease. This condition is the most common form of dementia and may contribute to 60 –70 % of cases. In 2015, dementia affected 47 million people worldwide (or roughly 5% of the world's elderly population), a figure predicted to increase to 75 million in 2030 and 132 million by 2050. Recent reviews estimate that each year nearly 9.9 million people develop dementia globally; this figure translates into one new case every three seconds (5). Even prolonged exposure to low levels of aluminium leads to changes associated with brain ageing and neurodegeneration (6).
Furthermore, aluminium has been included among 200 neurotoxic chemicals that silently erode intelligence, disrupt behaviours, truncate future achievements, and damage societies, perhaps most seriously in developing countries. The latter is called the "Silent Pandemic of Neurodevelopmental Toxicity in Children" (7,8). Recently, the aluminium content of brain tissue in autism spectrum disorder was found to be consistently high (9), and the prevalence of autism spectrum disorder is increasing, last CDC estimated prevalence is 1 in 44 children (10).
5) World Health Organization. Global action plan on the public health response to dementia. 2017-2025.
6) Bondy SC. Prolonged exposure to low levels of aluminium leads to changes associated with brain ageing and neurodegeneration. Toxicology 315 (2014) 1-7.
7) Grandjean P, Landrigan PJ. Developmental neurotoxicity of industrial chemicals. Lancet. 2006 Dec 16;368(9553):2167-78.
8) Grandjean P, Landrigan PJ. Neurobehavioural effects of developmental toxicity. The Lancet Neurology, Volume 13, Issue 3, Pages 330 - 338, March 2014.
9) Mold M, et al. aluminium in brain tissue in autism. J Trace Elem Med Biol. 2018.
10) CDC. National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Autism and Developmental Disabilities Monitoring (ADDM) Network. 31 March 2022. Accessed 8 April 2022.