When Combined with Household Aluminum Foil, Do Common Cooking Additives Pose Health Risks to the General Public?

Abstract

This study aims to investigate the impact of aluminum foil when exposed to solutions of varying pH (pH = 0 to 14), especially since aluminum leaching can pose serious health concerns. We hypothesized that as the pH of the solution decreases (i.e. solution is more acidic), the average decomposition of aluminum foil into the solution increases after being submerged for 4 days. To test the hypothesis, pieces of aluminum foil were submerged in different common household cooking additives of varying pH: lemon juice (acidic; average pH of 2.45), white vinegar (acidic; average pH of 2.80), water (neutral; average pH of 7.58), and baking soda (alkaline/basic; average pH of 8.78). The selected solutions reflected typical culinary conditions and did not undergo dilution. Results of single-factor ANOVA and Kruskal-Wallis were statistically significant (i.e. p < .05); Tukey-Kramer Honestly Significant Difference (HSD) showed that the acids facilitated the statistical significance. To attain those results, we incorporated procedural changes to our original methodology. Our study ultimately revealed that acidic solutions increased the amount of aluminum foil degradation, thus increasing the risk of aluminum leaching.