Aluminum Foil Is Bad For Your Health

[MeHT]

IMO the coals don't burn hot enough to vapoize the foil, ergo there is no way you inhale even trace amounts of aluminum.

[jhanzair]

Aluminum is a solid, for it to become a vapor it needs to be melted hot enough to liquidize, then heated even more for it to become gaseous.

No, a substance can go from solid to gaseous directly, it's called sublimation. However, aluminum does not usually sublimate in normal conditions (in standard PTA - pressão e temperatura atmosféricas, it means atmospheric pressure and temperature - conditions). You would need to increase the temperature pretty high (aluminum's fusion point is 660 ºC, you'd have to go waaaay past that) and increase pressure accordingly in order to keep it solid, then return to low pressure while keeping the temperature to achieve aluminum sublimation.

As I said, aluminum's fusion temperature is 660 ºC. Your coals burns under 250 ºC (if it didn't, I'd have no hookah now, as I used a silicon composite that can only take up to 250 ºC in mine and it still holds as new ), so there is no risk of actually melting the aluminum and producing vapors or whatever. Also, most ovens reach temperatures of 250 ºC (mine reaches 280 ºC), and that aluminum foil you buy is safe for cooking, so it must be able to withstand such temperatures without releasing enough particles to contaminate food.

As for the vapor pressure, in such low temperatures (about a third of the melting point) and with a substance as stable as aluminum, it is so low that it can be neglected.

If all this still isn't enough for you to stop worrying about aluminum foil once and for all, just think: aluminum is used in almost everything, from water treatment (and water already contains aluminum dissolved in most of the cases, as is the case for thousands of other substances, including other metals like copper and iron) to the glazing of pottery. You ingest aluminum, and a whole lot of other things, wether you want it or not. It is definitely not a reason to start worrying about a sheet of aluminum foil between a coal (that can't get even remotely near the melting temperature of the aluminum foil, and does not exceed the temperatures it was designed for) and tobacco (that releases pretty nasty chemicals, believe it or not ), whose smoke that is then filtered through water before ingestion.

Hope to stop the paranoia, once and for all

[jhanzair]

Aluminum is a solid, for it to become a vapor it needs to be melted hot enough to liquidize, then heated even more for it to become gaseous.

No, a substance can go from solid to gaseous directly, it's called sublimation. However, aluminum does not usually sublimate in normal conditions (in standard PTA - pressão e temperatura atmosféricas, it means atmospheric pressure and temperature - conditions). You would need to increase the temperature pretty high (aluminum's fusion point is 660 ºC, you'd have to go waaaay past that) and increase pressure accordingly in order to keep it solid, then return to low pressure while keeping the temperature to achieve aluminum sublimation.

As I said, aluminum's fusion temperature is 660 ºC. Your coals burn under 250 ºC (if they didn't, I'd have no hookah now, as I used a silicon composite that can only take up to 250 ºC in mine and it still holds as new ), so there is no risk of actually melting the aluminum and producing vapors or whatever. Also, most ovens reach temperatures of 250 ºC (mine reaches 280 ºC), and that aluminum foil you buy is safe for cooking, so it must be able to withstand such temperatures without releasing enough particles to contaminate food.

As for the vapor pressure, in such low temperatures (about a third of the melting point) and with a substance as stable as aluminum, it is so low that it can be neglected.

If all this still isn't enough for you to stop worrying about aluminum foil once and for all, just think: aluminum is used in almost everything, from water treatment (and water already contains aluminum dissolved in most of the cases, as is the case for thousands of other substances, including other metals like copper and iron) to the glazing of pottery (better stop drinking coffee in those mugs ). You ingest aluminum, and a whole lot of other things, wether you want it or not. It is definitely not a reason to start worrying about a sheet of aluminum foil between a coal (that can't get even remotely near the melting temperature of the aluminum foil, and does not exceed the temperatures it was designed for) and tobacco (that releases pretty nasty chemicals, believe it or not ), whose smoke is then filtered through water before ingestion.

Hope to stop the paranoia, once and for all

PS - I didn't double post, it doubled when editing, no idea why. If a moderator can delete the first message I'd be thankful Edited February 22, 2009 by jhanzair

[Zinite]

Aluminum is a solid, for it to become a vapor it needs to be melted hot enough to liquidize, then heated even more for it to become gaseous.

No, a substance can go from solid to gaseous directly, it's called sublimation. However, aluminum does not usually sublimate in normal conditions (in standard PTA - pressão e temperatura atmosféricas, it means atmospheric pressure and temperature - conditions). You would need to increase the temperature pretty high (aluminum's fusion point is 660 ºC, you'd have to go waaaay past that) and increase pressure accordingly in order to keep it solid, then return to low pressure while keeping the temperature to achieve aluminum sublimation.

As I said, aluminum's fusion temperature is 660 ºC. Your coals burns under 250 ºC (if it didn't, I'd have no hookah now, as I used a silicon composite that can only take up to 250 ºC in mine and it still holds as new ), so there is no risk of actually melting the aluminum and producing vapors or whatever. Also, most ovens reach temperatures of 250 ºC (mine reaches 280 ºC), and that aluminum foil you buy is safe for cooking, so it must be able to withstand such temperatures without releasing enough particles to contaminate food.

As for the vapor pressure, in such low temperatures (about a third of the melting point) and with a substance as stable as aluminum, it is so low that it can be neglected.

If all this still isn't enough for you to stop worrying about aluminum foil once and for all, just think: aluminum is used in almost everything, from water treatment (and water already contains aluminum dissolved in most of the cases, as is the case for thousands of other substances, including other metals like copper and iron) to the glazing of pottery. You ingest aluminum, and a whole lot of other things, wether you want it or not. It is definitely not a reason to start worrying about a sheet of aluminum foil between a coal (that can't get even remotely near the melting temperature of the aluminum foil, and does not exceed the temperatures it was designed for) and tobacco (that releases pretty nasty chemicals, believe it or not ), whose smoke that is then filtered through water before ingestion.

Hope to stop the paranoia, once and for all

Excellent post, thank you.

[Tom1]

The test's were... Inconclusive!, how's that for putting the nail in the coffin!

The atomic absorbency spectrometer wasn't able to heat the aluminum atoms to a hot enough temperature to get a real reading without adding nitrous oxide to it (Which we don't have). They have moved their efforts into something else hookah related which is MUCH more significant. That however is up to him on when/how/if he posts it, although I'm sure he will you will have to wait until everything is said and done most likely.

[Canon]

i got some natural coals, and the pieces were too small for my coil burner. so i decided to put aluminum foil on top of the coils so i can heat up the small pieces of coal and put it on me hookah, when i went back to check on the coals, most of the foil had burned away.

[redjako]

So much for camping cooking made easy with wrapped food in aluminum foil eh

[noodle]

This baloney about aluminum being toxic has been around at least since the 1910s. See snopes.com for details.

[Tom1]

This baloney about aluminum being toxic has been around at least since the 1910s. See snopes.com for details.

This seems legit...

[synthetik]

though a little tangential to the main point of your study, it would also be interesting if you could explore the health benefits and/or detriments of the organic molasses that have been coming into increasing popularity of late, and contain no tobacco (such as saalaam molasses). Im sure many people are curious if these molasses are actually less harmful than the tobaccos we're all used to smoking.

[mattathayde]

though a little tangential to the main point of your study, it would also be interesting if you could explore the health benefits and/or detriments of the organic molasses that have been coming into increasing popularity of late, and contain no tobacco (such as saalaam molasses). Im sure many people are curious if these molasses are actually less harmful than the tobaccos we're all used to smoking.

personally my edjumicated guess is that the only benefits of the the "herbals" is that there is no nicotine since they usually use a sugar cane its still an organic material and probably has many of the same basic structures to them so probably similar chemicals are released

-matt

[newjacksm]

I would love for the OP to come back and give us his results if any..

[noodle]

though a little tangential to the main point of your study, it would also be interesting if you could explore the health benefits and/or detriments of the organic molasses that have been coming into increasing popularity of late, and contain no tobacco (such as saalaam molasses). Im sure many people are curious if these molasses are actually less harmful than the tobaccos we're all used to smoking.

personally my edjumicated guess is that the only benefits of the the "herbals" is that there is no nicotine since they usually use a sugar cane its still an organic material and probably has many of the same basic structures to them so probably similar chemicals are released

-matt

Arguing that there's a hazard to that is troublesome given that people have been cooking food for thousands of years. If there was a problem with chemicals produced through cooking, I presume we have since evolved enough to deal with them.

[Tom1]

I would love for the OP to come back and give us his results if any..

The atomic absorbency spectrometer wasn't able to heat the aluminum atoms to a hot enough temperature to get a real reading without adding nitrous oxide to it (Which we don't have). They have moved their efforts into something else hookah related which is MUCH more significant. That however is up to him on when/how/if he posts it, although I'm sure he will you will have to wait until everything is said and done most likely.

Those were the results...

[newjacksm]

Woops sorry!! i must of skipped over that, I am from NY too.. My Girlfriend actually lives really really close to Newburgh and my dentist is from Newburgh what school you guys go too?

[Tom1]

MSMC on Powell ave.

[mattathayde]

though a little tangential to the main point of your study, it would also be interesting if you could explore the health benefits and/or detriments of the organic molasses that have been coming into increasing popularity of late, and contain no tobacco (such as saalaam molasses). Im sure many people are curious if these molasses are actually less harmful than the tobaccos we're all used to smoking.

personally my edjumicated guess is that the only benefits of the the "herbals" is that there is no nicotine since they usually use a sugar cane its still an organic material and probably has many of the same basic structures to them so probably similar chemicals are released

-matt

Arguing that there's a hazard to that is troublesome given that people have been cooking food for thousands of years. If there was a problem with chemicals produced through cooking, I presume we have since evolved enough to deal with them.

people also eat tobacco and dont get a buzz from nicotine in it, theres a difference between eating part of a plant or heating it up and breathing in what off gasses from it. just because its good for you to eat doesnt mean it is good to inhale steam/smoke off of it

-matt