Aluminium fact sheet-April 03_e.DOC

Canadian Council of Ministers of the Environment, 2003 luminium (Al; CAS # 7429-90-5; molecular weight 26.98) is a silvery-white, pliable metal usually found in compounds as Al 3+ (WHO 1997). It is the most abundant metal in the earth’s crust, and the third most common element (Sparling and Lowe 1996). Aluminium is very light (density = 2.70 g·cm), capable of being hammered, cast, drawn out, machined, and moulded, and is therefore easily formed into many shapes (Frank et al. 1985, as cited in WHO 1997). Aluminium is found in a variety of minerals, usually combined with elements such as silicon, oxygen, phosphates, fluorine, and hydroxides, to name a few (Lide 1991, as cited in WHO 1997; Frank et al. 1985; Hudson et al. 1985).