Talk:Aluminium hydroxide

first wiki edit so idk formatting, but with "where a dam bursting led to the drowning of nine people. An additional 122 sought treatment for chemical burns." it looks like the numbers are off comparing it to the linked page (Ajka_alumina_plant_accident) which says 10 deaths among other differing informtion.173.172.114.229 (talk) 05:46, 29 May 2022 (UTC)Napa (unamed/no account)

How many water molecules?
The second paragraph says that to avoid the question of how many waters are usually associated, some people write "$$Al_{2}O_{3} \cdot xH_{2}O$$." Unless I'm very much mistaken, that's the formula for a hydrate of aluminium oxide. The proper formula for aluminium hydroxide is $$Al(OH)_3$$, as is listed in the column to the right.

If I don't get any objections by June 25, I'll change that.---WilliamRobert


 * Read it again, the Al(OH)3 is there several times in the text. The xH2O bit is there as a general usage to avoid the controversy/confusion on the various forms - technically incorrect, but seems the chemistry is confusing as reported. Vsmith 01:32, 21 June 2006 (UTC)

Result of heating
Hmm. The article should probably mention the fact that when heated (calcined), aluminum hydroxide forms aluminum oxide, as in the Bayer Process. I think that simply referring to the Bayer Process is insufficient. -Anon — Preceding unsigned comment added by 209.173.74.73 (talk • contribs) 04:24, 7 June 2008 (UTC)

Dissolve versus react
I don't think I'm being too pedantic, but the chemistry section says it "dissolves" in acids and alkalis. Should this not be "reacts"? 86.157.65.72 (talk) 17:34, 7 October 2008 (UTC)


 * Strictly speaking you are correct, in my opinion. Yet, there is a usage of the term "dissolve" in the meaning "react completely with a formation of products that are all in the dissolved state" and to which the thermodynamic concept of solubility does not apply because there is no solute left. One could blame it on the imperfections of a natural language, which was given to as just a string of hint for the reader to interpret in the context. Was it the Bible that said "people bother with talking, yet nobody said everything yet"? Best regards. Stan J. Klimas (talk) 18:37, 7 October 2008 (UTC)

"The aluminium hydroxide causes adsorption of antigens made of proteins, which slows the release of the antigen from the injection site (the "depot effect"), as well as causing a nonspecific irritation to the immune system.[13]"

Used in vaccines and "nonspecific" irritation to the immune system. Yet, nothing mentioned in Potential Adverse Effects section. Could this be what parents are seeing when they say overnight impact on child after immunization shots? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 72.92.134.178 (talk) 21:02, 9 July 2014 (UTC)

Tonnage numbers in "Uses" section
The "Uses" section has 100M tonnes/year production, 90% of which is for aluminum metal production. I can believe the second of these figures. But given that aluminum metal production 51.5M tonnes/year September 2013-August 2014, and the molar mass ratio of Al(OH)3:Al is 78:27, Al(OH)3 production for the aluminum metal industry is at least 144M tonnes/year, probably over 150M to account for yield losses. This brings the world total up to around 160M tonnes.

The same reference also has world alumina (Al2O3) production, which it gives as 108M tonnes 9/2013-8/2014, which would put Al(OH)2 production above 160M tonnes/year. Hazelsct (talk) 19:17, 7 October 2014 (UTC)

Present in Toothpaste, TOXIC?
I look on the label of my "Pearl Drops" toothpaste and see that it has Aluminum Hydroxide and read this article to find out why it would be in there. The part of the article that says "Red Mud" is toxic makes me wonder whether Aluminum Hydroxide is toxic, and why it's in my toothpaste.
 * Any toxicity associated with red mud may have nothing to do with aluminum hydroxide, and the term toxic is vague anyway ("the dose makes the poison"). Considering all the pharmaceutical applications of aluminum hydroxide listed in this article, you shouldn't worry that the small amount in your toothpaste will cause any problems.  -- Ed (Edgar181) 20:03, 1 December 2015 (UTC)
 * I ran into this and was about to simply flag it with a "fact" tag before I went here and saw that people were already complaining. So I instead rewrote the section. The person who made that edit is confusing red mud (a waste product of aluminum hydroxide production) with aluminum hydroxide itself, and confusing "caustic" (from the sodium hydroxide in the red mud) with "toxic". -- 213.176.153.100 (talk) 10:42, 6 December 2015 (UTC)

Minor error in Pharmaceuticals section
The manufacturer of Alhydrogel was incorrectly listed as Brenntag. Brenntag is a chemical distributor. They do not manufacture any of the products that they sell. Corrected to the actual trademark holder for Alhydrogel, and included reference link to Sergeant Adjuvant website. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.191.231.29 (talk) 17:27, 5 March 2016 (UTC)

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Potential adverse effects
This edit removed a sourced paragraph from this section, saying "remove nonsense - not a reliable source".

"However aluminum has been linked in studies to Autism and Alzheimers and is synergistic in it's damaging effects when combined with mercury to cause greater harm."

The assertion was initially inserted without citing a supporting source. I reverted the insertion, but later unreverted and added a source supplied to me on my talk page by the original inserter. I did not vet the source at the time, and I now see that its reliability is called into question at Association of American Physicians and Surgeons. it looks to me as if, with this supporting source, this does not meet the requirements of WP:DUE. The assertion (which does not say flatly that aluminum is linked to Autism, Alzheimers, etc, -- it says that it "has been linked in studies ..") might meet those requirements with a better supporting source cited. If it reappears, it should probably be balanced with WP:RS supported asertions giving alternative POVs. Wtmitchell (talk) (earlier Boracay Bill) 10:41, 19 September 2018 (UTC)


 * Apart from the grocer's apostrophe there is a problem with saying "linked to" - a weasel expression beloved of sensational sources. AFAIK it's a long-discredited myth that aluminium "causes" AD. Alexbrn (talk) 11:17, 19 September 2018 (UTC)
 * The publication in Journal of American Physicians and Surgeons mentioned above is written by a journalist, not a PhD or MD. The first sentence is "Aluminum is a neurotoxin,.."  Just sayin'.--Smokefoot (talk) 11:59, 19 September 2018 (UTC)

Exact solubility and ksp
According to this article the solubility of Aluminium hydroxide is 0.0001 g/100 ml which is equal to 0.001 g/l, while calculations from ksp suggests a much lower value of 0.0000002262 g/l which is equal to 0.00000002262 g/100 ml. Also the ksp of Aluminium hydroxide according to this article is 3×10-34 while truly it is 1.9×10-33.