Medical experts say the levels of aluminum discovered in wells around a coal fly ash dump site in Gambrills in Anne Arundel could have significant health consequences.
What exactly those effects could be has yet to be determined.
“This community was exposed to aluminum levels 275 times greater than the [Environmental Protection Agency] secondary standard,” said John Spangler, a medical expert from the Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center in North Carolina.
“Levels this great have not been evaluated systematically, which does increase one?s concern about potential neurological effects.”
Exceeding federal limits
While arsenic was found in five wells in Gambrills, aluminum ? which is a secondary contaminant listed by the EPA ? was found above the recommended guideline in 44 of the 54 wells tested.
Arsenic is a primary contaminant with mandatory limits that, if exceeded, could have fatal effects.
Secondary contaminants have recommended guidelines for the amount permitted in the water supply, but the limits are not enforceable, according to the EPA.
Most of the wells tested two to 50 times above the EPA standard for aluminum. Residents? exposure to the aluminum could be anywhere between six to 12 years.
What aluminum can directly do to the human body is unclear, but it can be connected to neurological disease such as dementia and kidney disease, experts say.
Rare discovery in England
Chris Exley, a biological chemistry researcher at England?s Keele University, helped discover a rare form of Alzheimer?s disease in the brain of a deceased woman in Camelford, England. That woman was exposed to high levels of aluminum in her drinking water.
“In this particular case, the evidence was strong that it accelerated a condition that would have likely developed in her 80s, but she was in her 50s,” Exley said.
Low levels of aluminum ? which people are exposed to every day through soda cans and antiperspirants, for example ? have not been shown to be harmful, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
Aluminum?s effect on the brain
But effects of high dosages of aluminum in humans is unknown. In animals, high levels have caused birth defects because aluminum can be passed from mother to the fetus through the placenta.
The brain naturally collects aluminum, which is why doctors and researchers believe it can lead to neurological damage, said Marilyn Albert, director of the division of cognitive neuroscience at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore City.
But linking the cause of Alzheimer?s to using aluminum cookware and drinking from aluminum cans is a misnomer, say officials including the Alzheimer?s Association.
“It is not important in the cause of Alzheimer?s,” said Robert Friedland, a medical expert with the neurology department at University Hospitals Case Medical Center in Cleveland.
“It is neuro-toxic, and consuming it is unwise.”
Exley and others said more research is needed to fully grasp aluminum?s impact on the brain.
“The total aluminum found in [the Gambrills] wells are way outside what might be considered normal safety limits,” Exley said.
Contamination in Gambrills
The contamination started at two former gravel pits in Gambrills that were being filled with coal fly ash from Constellation Energy power plants. The ash seeped into the local aquifer. Dumping began in 1995, and contamination was first noticed in 1999.
Efforts to stop people from drinking the water didn?t start until last year.
Residents around the dump site have either been put on the public water system or have been supplied with bottled water from Constellation Energy, which was fined by the Maryland Department of the Environment.
Gambrills resident Gayle Queen is leading a class-action lawsuit against Constellation Energy. Two wells on her street tested between 1,710 and 2,270 parts per billion ? the EPA standard is 200 ppb.
Queen said last month that several neighbors have died of cancer, and her husband died of renal failure. However, the county has one of the highest cancer morality rates in the state.
Examining the wells
EPA guideline: 50-200 parts per billion for aluminum
» Total wells contaminated: 54
» Wells below 50 ppb: 10
» Wells between 50 and 200 ppb: 6
» Wells between 200 and 1,000 ppb: 18
» Wells between 1,000 and 10,000 ppb: 14
» Wells between 10,000 and 50,000 ppb: 5
» Wells above 50,000 ppb: 1 (55,000)
Source: Anne Arundel County Health Department
