Aluminium cookware is common in our homes. From pan, pressure cooker to even foil used for wrapping food.

A research published in ScienceDaily reveals that aluminium cookware made from scrap metal poses serious health risk.

Researchers tested 42 samples of aluminium cookware. These were collected from 10 developing countries and more than one-third posed a lead exposure hazard.

The samples collected for research from different countries released significant levels of aluminium, arsenic and cadmium.

Aluminium cookware is common through out India, Africa and Asia. It is usually made from recycled scrap metal including auto and computer parts, cans and other industrial debris.

Lead exposure from inexpensive aluminium cookware has the potential to be of much greater public health significance than lead paint or other well-known harmful sources that are common around the world.

Lead exposure in children is linked to brain damage, mental retardation, lower educational performance, and a range of other health effects.

Experts say, lead and cadmium exposures from regular use of these pots will significantly reduce IQ and school performance among children, and contribute to millions of deaths due to cardiovascular disease.

The investigators simulated cooking by boiling acidic solutions in the cookware for two hours.

The research through simulation discovered that levels of aluminium on average were six times greater than WHO dietary guidelines and significant concentrations of cadmium leached from 31 percent of the cookware tested.

The researchers also found levels of aluminium on average were six times greater than WHO dietary guidelines and significant concentrations of cadmium leached from 31 percent of the cookware tested.

Cadmium is neurotoxic in children, causes kidney damage, is linked to cardiovascular deaths and is carcinogenic.

Another research found that cooking food in foil migrates aluminium into food above permissible limits. So is the case when hot food is wrapped in foil. Also, aluminium is significantly more likely to leach into food that is acidic or liquid food solutions like lemon and tomato juice. Leaching levels go up even more when spice is added to food that’s cooked in aluminium foil.

It’s safe to wrap cold food in foil, though not for long stretches of time because food has a shelf life. Also, because aluminium in the foil will begin to leach into the food depending on ingredients like spices.