In 2001 the enquiry into the contamination by aluminium sulphate of
the public water supply of a large area of North Cornwall, centred around
the town of Camelford, was re-opened. An independent expert advisory
committee, the Committee on Toxicity of Chemicals in Food, Consumer
Products and the Environment (COT) were asked by the Department of Health
(DH) to advise on whether the pollution incident had resulted in delayed
or persistent health effects and on the need for additional monitoring and
research. COT have now made available for consultation the draft report of
their investigation. We have a number of general criticisms concerning the
way in which COT have dealt with issues concerning the exposure of the
local population to the known environmental toxin, aluminium.
(i) The subgroup appointed to the enquiry did not include anyone with
any direct experience of any aspect of the chemistry or environmental
toxicology of aluminium. We asked at the outset that this shortcoming
should be rectified but the request went unheeded and it is now clear that
this mistake has resulted in an entirely inadequate treatment of the role
played by aluminium in this incident. It is not the purpose of this letter
to review the many ways in which the report has failed in its
consideration of any role played by aluminium, this will be done in full
as part of the so-called consultation process, but as a background to
these misgivings it may suffice to point out that the subgroup’s report
makes reference to only six (6) peer-reviewed publications on aluminium
since 2001, a period in which in excess of 350 papers of potential
relevance to the enquiry were published (data easily available via ISI Web
of Science). One of these six publications, Priest (2004), is repeatedly
referenced and is written by an individual who gave oral evidence to the
subgroup on behalf of the Aluminium Federation !
(ii) The great majority of the water quality data used by the
subgroup in arriving at their conclusions was provided by the South West
Water Authority (SWWA). Regardless of the fact that independent analyses
were only scarcely available (though some that were came from the
Laboratory of the Government Chemist at Taunton) it is surprising that the
subgroup have chosen to use data provided by the ‘polluters’. These data
have not been critically appraised by the subgroup. We are not offered any
information about the methods which were used to determine aluminium in
the water samples. It is notoriously difficult to measure high
concentrations of aluminium (> mg/L) with any degree of confidence and
there is evidence from the data provided by SWWA that their measurements
for aluminium are significantly lower than would have been predicted from
the corresponding concentrations of sulphate. Intriguingly these
disparities between the aluminium and sulphate concentrations are only
evident for those water samples taken at the outset of the incident when
the corresponding concentrations of aluminium in the water supplies would
have been expected to have been at their highest.
(iii) We do not wish to argue with the recommendations for further
research. These ostensibly amount to every area in which aluminium
exposure might impact upon human health and are to be applauded. The
surprise is that considering these recommendations the subgroup were still
able to conclude that ‘it is not anticipated that the increased exposure
to aluminium would have caused, or would be expected to cause, delayed or
persistent harm to those who were adults or toddlers at the time of the
incident’. It is difficult to reconcile the recommendations for further
research with the unequivocal nature of the conclusion on human health.
It is our contention that the conclusions drawn by the subgroup
concerning aluminium have been drawn from an entirely inadequate data base
both with respect to the literature that has been reviewed and cited in
the report and the water quality analyses provided by SWWA. In relation to
the former, it would have been welcomed if the subgroup had pointed out
that the UK government through for example, the research councils etc.
have not funded any independent research on aluminium and health in the
last decade, if not longer, and that this inexplicable breakdown in
research funding might have contributed to their difficulties in reviewing
the toxicological consequences of the poisoning of the Camelford public
water supply by aluminium. Fortunately, first class research from outside
of the UK has ensured that we are much better informed than the subgroup
has demonstrated in its review of the literature. We do not think that the
proposed period of consultation (up to the 22nd April 2005) will be
sufficient neither to remedy the deficiencies of this report nor to do
justice to the concerns of the people affected by this incident.
Christopher Exley PhD, Reader in Bioinorganic Chemistry, Keele
University. c.exley@chem.keele.ac.uk
Kumar Sripathirathan, Rush University Medical Center, Chicago, IL
USA. skumar@nyx.net
Walter J. Lukiw, MS, PhD, Associate Professor of Molecular Biology
and Human Genetics, LSU Neuroscience Center, Louisiana State University
Health Science Center, New Orleans, USA. wlukiw@lsuhsc.edu
Warren James Croom, Jr., Ph.D., PAS, FACN, Professor of Nutrition and
Physiology, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, North Carolina, USA. Jim_Croom@ncsu.edu
Steven Jansen, Plant Anatomist, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. s.jansen@kew.org
Tamas Kiss DSc, Professor in Inorganic Chemistry, University of
Szeged, Hungary. tkiss@chem.u-szeged.hu
Kenrick Berend, PhD, Internist, Diatel Curacao and St. Elisabeth
Hospital Curacao. kberend@sehos.an
Antonio B.S. Poléo, PhD, Department of Molecular Biosciences, University
of Oslo, toni.poleo@bio.uio.no
Ana Lucia Ramalho Mercê PhD, Adjunct Professor, Federal University of
Paraná, Brasil. anamerce@ufpr.br
Daniel Orihuela PhD, Faculty of Biochemistry and Biological Sciences,
University of Litoral, Santa Fe, Argentina. dorihuela@arnet.com.ar
Emanuel Epstein PhD, Department of Land, Air and Water Resources, Soils
and Biogeochemistry, University of California, Davis, USA. eqepstein@ucdavis.edu
Bettina Platt PhD, School of Medical Sciences, University of Aberdeen. b.platt@abdn.ac.uk
Dr Salvatore Polizzi, Occupational Health Service, Torino, Italy. mdl8to@cometacom.it
Professor Irina Cech, PhD, Division of Environmental and Occupational
Health, University of Texas, USA. Irina.Cech@uth.tmc.edu
Professor Mari S Golub, Department of Internal Medicine, University of
California, Davis, USA. msgolub@ucdavis.edu
Norman B Roberts, Consultant Clinical Scientist, Royal Liverpool and
Broadgreen University Hospital. N.B.Roberts@liverpool.ac.uk
Frédéric Gérard, Chargé de Recherches, Unité Biogéochimie des Ecosystèmes
Forestiers, Champenoux, France. gerard@nancy.inra.fr
M. Teresa Fernández-Sánchez, PhD, Associate Professor, Dpt. Biochemistry
and Molecular Biology, University of Oviedo, Oviedo, Spain. mfernandez@bioquimica.uniovi.es
Erik Jansson, Exec. Dir. Department of the Planet Earth, Washington, DC,
USA. planetearth@erols.com
Antonello Novelli, Ph.D, Associate Professor, Dept. Psychology, Area of
Psychobiology and Dept. Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of
Oviedo. Spain. anovelli@uniovi.es
Pekka Vuorinen, Ph.D., Finnish Game and Fisheries Research Institute,
Helsinki, Finland. pekka.vuorinen@rktl.fi
Prof. Dr. Eckehart Nolte, Faculty of Physics E15, Technical University of
Munich, Germany. nolte@ph.tum.de
Marja Keinänen, PhD, Finnish Game and Fisheries Research Institute,
Helsinki, Finland. marja.keinanen@rktl.fi
Kirill Shafran, PhD, School of Biomedical and Natural Sciences, The
Nottingham Trent University. kirill.shafran@ntu.ac.uk
Dr Arezoo Campbell, University of California, Irvine, USA aghadimi@uci.edu
Dr Alcira Nesse, Department of Biological Chemistry, University of Buenos
Aires, Argentina. anesse@qb.fcen.uba.ar
Kevin Bishop PhD, Professor of Environmental Assessment, Swedish
University of Agricultural Sciences. Sweden. kevin.bishop@ma.slu.se
Dr Malgorzata Trzcinka-Ochocka, Head of Biomonitoring Laboratory,
Department of Chemical Hazards, The Nofer Institute of Occupational
Medicine, Lodz, Poland. ochocka@imp.lodz.pl
Grazyna Razniewska, MSc, Department of Chemical Hazards, The Nofer
Institute of Occupational Medicine, Lodz, Poland. grara@imp.lodz.pl
Professor Daniel P Perl, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York, USA. daniel.perl@mssm.edu
Professor Stephen C Bondy, Department of Community and Environmental
Medicine, University of California, Irvine, USA. scbondy@uci.edu
Trond Peder Flaten, Ph.D., Department of Chemistry, Norwegian University
of Science and Technology, Norway. trond.flaten@chem.ntnu.no
Associate Professor Oleg N. Antzutkin, Department of Chemistry, Luleå
University of Technology, Luleå, Sweden. Oleg.Antzutkin@ltu.se
Dr Richard Handy, School of Biological Sciences, University of Plymouth. R.Handy@plymouth.ac.uk
Dr Philip Day, Department of Chemistry, University of Manchester. philip.day@man.ac.uk
Marcantonio Bragadin PhD, University of Venice, Italy. bragadin@unive.it
Rapid Response:
Aluminium and Camelford
In 2001 the enquiry into the contamination by aluminium sulphate of
the public water supply of a large area of North Cornwall, centred around
the town of Camelford, was re-opened. An independent expert advisory
committee, the Committee on Toxicity of Chemicals in Food, Consumer
Products and the Environment (COT) were asked by the Department of Health
(DH) to advise on whether the pollution incident had resulted in delayed
or persistent health effects and on the need for additional monitoring and
research. COT have now made available for consultation the draft report of
their investigation. We have a number of general criticisms concerning the
way in which COT have dealt with issues concerning the exposure of the
local population to the known environmental toxin, aluminium.
(i) The subgroup appointed to the enquiry did not include anyone with
any direct experience of any aspect of the chemistry or environmental
toxicology of aluminium. We asked at the outset that this shortcoming
should be rectified but the request went unheeded and it is now clear that
this mistake has resulted in an entirely inadequate treatment of the role
played by aluminium in this incident. It is not the purpose of this letter
to review the many ways in which the report has failed in its
consideration of any role played by aluminium, this will be done in full
as part of the so-called consultation process, but as a background to
these misgivings it may suffice to point out that the subgroup’s report
makes reference to only six (6) peer-reviewed publications on aluminium
since 2001, a period in which in excess of 350 papers of potential
relevance to the enquiry were published (data easily available via ISI Web
of Science). One of these six publications, Priest (2004), is repeatedly
referenced and is written by an individual who gave oral evidence to the
subgroup on behalf of the Aluminium Federation !
(ii) The great majority of the water quality data used by the
subgroup in arriving at their conclusions was provided by the South West
Water Authority (SWWA). Regardless of the fact that independent analyses
were only scarcely available (though some that were came from the
Laboratory of the Government Chemist at Taunton) it is surprising that the
subgroup have chosen to use data provided by the ‘polluters’. These data
have not been critically appraised by the subgroup. We are not offered any
information about the methods which were used to determine aluminium in
the water samples. It is notoriously difficult to measure high
concentrations of aluminium (> mg/L) with any degree of confidence and
there is evidence from the data provided by SWWA that their measurements
for aluminium are significantly lower than would have been predicted from
the corresponding concentrations of sulphate. Intriguingly these
disparities between the aluminium and sulphate concentrations are only
evident for those water samples taken at the outset of the incident when
the corresponding concentrations of aluminium in the water supplies would
have been expected to have been at their highest.
(iii) We do not wish to argue with the recommendations for further
research. These ostensibly amount to every area in which aluminium
exposure might impact upon human health and are to be applauded. The
surprise is that considering these recommendations the subgroup were still
able to conclude that ‘it is not anticipated that the increased exposure
to aluminium would have caused, or would be expected to cause, delayed or
persistent harm to those who were adults or toddlers at the time of the
incident’. It is difficult to reconcile the recommendations for further
research with the unequivocal nature of the conclusion on human health.
It is our contention that the conclusions drawn by the subgroup
concerning aluminium have been drawn from an entirely inadequate data base
both with respect to the literature that has been reviewed and cited in
the report and the water quality analyses provided by SWWA. In relation to
the former, it would have been welcomed if the subgroup had pointed out
that the UK government through for example, the research councils etc.
have not funded any independent research on aluminium and health in the
last decade, if not longer, and that this inexplicable breakdown in
research funding might have contributed to their difficulties in reviewing
the toxicological consequences of the poisoning of the Camelford public
water supply by aluminium. Fortunately, first class research from outside
of the UK has ensured that we are much better informed than the subgroup
has demonstrated in its review of the literature. We do not think that the
proposed period of consultation (up to the 22nd April 2005) will be
sufficient neither to remedy the deficiencies of this report nor to do
justice to the concerns of the people affected by this incident.
Christopher Exley PhD, Reader in Bioinorganic Chemistry, Keele
University. c.exley@chem.keele.ac.uk
Kumar Sripathirathan, Rush University Medical Center, Chicago, IL
USA.
skumar@nyx.net
Walter J. Lukiw, MS, PhD, Associate Professor of Molecular Biology
and Human Genetics, LSU Neuroscience Center, Louisiana State University
Health Science Center, New Orleans, USA. wlukiw@lsuhsc.edu
Warren James Croom, Jr., Ph.D., PAS, FACN, Professor of Nutrition and
Physiology, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, North Carolina, USA.
Jim_Croom@ncsu.edu
Steven Jansen, Plant Anatomist, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.
s.jansen@kew.org
Tamas Kiss DSc, Professor in Inorganic Chemistry, University of
Szeged, Hungary.
tkiss@chem.u-szeged.hu
Kenrick Berend, PhD, Internist, Diatel Curacao and St. Elisabeth
Hospital Curacao.
kberend@sehos.an
Antonio B.S. Poléo, PhD, Department of Molecular Biosciences, University
of Oslo, toni.poleo@bio.uio.no
Shuping Bi, PhD, Nanjing University, China.
bisp@nju.edu.cn
Ana Lucia Ramalho Mercê PhD, Adjunct Professor, Federal University of
Paraná, Brasil. anamerce@ufpr.br
Daniel Orihuela PhD, Faculty of Biochemistry and Biological Sciences,
University of Litoral, Santa Fe, Argentina.
dorihuela@arnet.com.ar
Emanuel Epstein PhD, Department of Land, Air and Water Resources, Soils
and Biogeochemistry, University of California, Davis, USA.
eqepstein@ucdavis.edu
Bettina Platt PhD, School of Medical Sciences, University of Aberdeen.
b.platt@abdn.ac.uk
Frederic J. Doucet PhD, School of Biosciences, University of Nottingham.
frederic.doucet@nottingham.ac.uk
Andrei C. Miu, Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience, Babes-Bolyai
University, Romania,
AndreiMiu@psychology.ro
Vasu Appanna PhD, Chair, Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry,
Laurentian University, Ontario, Canada.
vappanna@nickel.laurentian.ca
David O. Carpenter, M.D., Institute for Health & the Environment,
University at Albany, SUNY, USA.
Carpent@uamail.albany.edu
Prof. Dr. Erich. Reusche, Institut für Pathologie, Universitätsklinikum
Schleswig Holstein, Campus Lübeck, Germany.
reusche@patho.uni-luebeck.de
Dr. Paul Illmer, Professor at the Institute of Microbiology, University of
Innsbruck, Austria. Paul.Illmer@uibk.ac.at
Janez Scancar PhD, Senior Researcher, “Jožef Stefan” Institute, Department
of Environmental Sciences, Ljubljana, Slovenia.
janez.scancar@ijs.si
Professor Fusako Kawai, Research Institute for Bioresources, Okayama
University, Japan.
fkawai@rib.okayama-u.ac.jp
John Savory PhD, Department of Pathology, University of Virginia, USA.
js2r@virginia.edu
Sandra Verstraeten, PhD, School of Pharmacy and Biochemistry, University
of Buenos Aires, Argentina.
verstraeten@ffyb.uba.ar
Ravin Jugdaohsingh, PhD, Senior Research Fellow, Rayne Institute, London.
ravin.jugdaohsingh@kcl.ac.uk
Iñigo Navarro-Blasco, PhD, Associate Professor, University of Navarra,
Department of Chemistry and Soil Science, Spain.
inavarro@unav.es
Chris Orvig, Professor of Chemistry and Pharmaceutical Sciences,
University of British Columbia, Canada.
orvig@chem.ubc.ca
Professor Carole Perry, School of Chemistry and Physics, Nottingham Trent
University.
carole.perry@ntu.ac.uk
Professor Guy Berthon, Laboratoire de Chimie Bioinorganique Médicale,
Université Paul Sabatier, Toulouse, France.
berthon@cict.fr
Professor Staffan Sjöberg, Department of Inorganic Chemistry, Umeå
University, Sweden.
Staffan.Sjoberg@chem.umu.se
Peter Stewart, Mechanical Engineer, Australia.
bpe@bigpond.net.au
Dr Salvatore Polizzi, Occupational Health Service, Torino, Italy.
mdl8to@cometacom.it
Professor Irina Cech, PhD, Division of Environmental and Occupational
Health, University of Texas, USA.
Irina.Cech@uth.tmc.edu
Professor Mari S Golub, Department of Internal Medicine, University of
California, Davis, USA.
msgolub@ucdavis.edu
Norman B Roberts, Consultant Clinical Scientist, Royal Liverpool and
Broadgreen University Hospital.
N.B.Roberts@liverpool.ac.uk
Frédéric Gérard, Chargé de Recherches, Unité Biogéochimie des Ecosystèmes
Forestiers, Champenoux, France.
gerard@nancy.inra.fr
M. Teresa Fernández-Sánchez, PhD, Associate Professor, Dpt. Biochemistry
and Molecular Biology, University of Oviedo, Oviedo, Spain.
mfernandez@bioquimica.uniovi.es
Erik Jansson, Exec. Dir. Department of the Planet Earth, Washington, DC,
USA.
planetearth@erols.com
Antonello Novelli, Ph.D, Associate Professor, Dept. Psychology, Area of
Psychobiology and Dept. Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of
Oviedo. Spain.
anovelli@uniovi.es
Pekka Vuorinen, Ph.D., Finnish Game and Fisheries Research Institute,
Helsinki, Finland.
pekka.vuorinen@rktl.fi
Prof. Dr. Eckehart Nolte, Faculty of Physics E15, Technical University of
Munich, Germany.
nolte@ph.tum.de
Marja Keinänen, PhD, Finnish Game and Fisheries Research Institute,
Helsinki, Finland.
marja.keinanen@rktl.fi
Kirill Shafran, PhD, School of Biomedical and Natural Sciences, The
Nottingham Trent University.
kirill.shafran@ntu.ac.uk
Mansour Sargazi, PhD, Royal Liverpool University Hospital.
mrsr@liverpool.ac.uk
Professor Thomas W Swaddle, Department of Chemistry, University of
Calgary, Canada.
swaddle@ucalgary.ca
Prof. Dr. Jose L. Domingo, Laboratory of Toxicology and Environmental
Health, "Rovira i Virgili" University, Spain.
joseluis.domingo@urv.net
Dr Frode Kroglund, NIVA, Oslo, Norway.
frode-kroglund@niva.no
Dr Arezoo Campbell, University of California, Irvine, USA
aghadimi@uci.edu
Dr Alcira Nesse, Department of Biological Chemistry, University of Buenos
Aires, Argentina.
anesse@qb.fcen.uba.ar
Kevin Bishop PhD, Professor of Environmental Assessment, Swedish
University of Agricultural Sciences. Sweden.
kevin.bishop@ma.slu.se
Dr Malgorzata Trzcinka-Ochocka, Head of Biomonitoring Laboratory,
Department of Chemical Hazards, The Nofer Institute of Occupational
Medicine, Lodz, Poland.
ochocka@imp.lodz.pl
Grazyna Razniewska, MSc, Department of Chemical Hazards, The Nofer
Institute of Occupational Medicine, Lodz, Poland.
grara@imp.lodz.pl
Professor Daniel P Perl, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York, USA.
daniel.perl@mssm.edu
Professor Stephen C Bondy, Department of Community and Environmental
Medicine, University of California, Irvine, USA.
scbondy@uci.edu
Trond Peder Flaten, Ph.D., Department of Chemistry, Norwegian University
of Science and Technology, Norway.
trond.flaten@chem.ntnu.no
Associate Professor Oleg N. Antzutkin, Department of Chemistry, Luleå
University of Technology, Luleå, Sweden.
Oleg.Antzutkin@ltu.se
Dr Richard Handy, School of Biological Sciences, University of Plymouth.
R.Handy@plymouth.ac.uk
Dr Philip Day, Department of Chemistry, University of Manchester.
philip.day@man.ac.uk
Marcantonio Bragadin PhD, University of Venice, Italy.
bragadin@unive.it
Dr Neil Ward, University of Surrey.
n.ward@surrey.ac.uk
Competing interests:
None declared
Competing interests: No competing interests