The Science of the Total Environment 292 (2002) 205–213 0048-9697/02/$ - see front matter  2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved. PII: S0048-9697 Ž 01 . 01122-6 Aluminium content of drinking waters, fruit juices and soft drinks: contribution to dietary intake Francisco F. Lopez, Carmen Cabrera*, M. Luisa Lorenzo, M. Carmen Lopez ´ ´ Department of Nutrition and Bromatology, School of Pharmacy, University of Granada, Campus de Cartuja, E-18012 Granada, Spain Received 18 September 2001; accepted 28 November 2001 Abstract Concentrations of aluminium in drinking waters (tap water, still mineral water and sparkling mineral water), fruit juices and soft drinks were determined using graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometry (GFAAS) of samples processed with a HNO –V O acid digestion pre-treatment. In water samples, aluminium was determined directly. 3 2 5 We verified the sensitivity, accuracy and precision of the method and ruled out matrix interferences. In analysed samples, aluminium values ranged from 4.2 to 165.3 mgyl in drinking water (ns41), from 49.3 to 1144.6 mgyl in fruit juices (ns47), and from 44.6 to 1053.3 mgyl in soft drinks (ns88). According to the type of container (glass or can) statistically significant differences (P-0.01) have been demonstrated. Considering the mean daily individual consumption of these beverages in Spain, the daily dietary intake of Al supplied by this source is estimated as 156 mgypersonyday. This study contributes new data on the Al content of a variety of foods and beverages in Spain and to estimate reliably the total dietary intake of aluminium.  2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved. Keywords: Aluminium; Drinking waters; Fruit juices; Soft drinks; Dietary intake; Graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometry 1. Introduction Aluminium is widespread throughout nature, air, water, plants and consequently in all the food chain (Storey and Masters, 1995; Glynn et al., 1999). Recent studies have shown that acid rain decreases the pH in soil, permitting Al mobility through groundwater by increasing its bioavaila- bility (Gerhardsson et al., 1994) which increased the interest of many researches in dietary intake *Corresponding author. Tel.: q34-58-243-863; fax: q34- 58-243-869. E-mail address: carmenc@platon.ugr.es (C. Cabrera). (Minoia et al., 1994; Storey and Masters, 1995). Intake from food is thought to be much lower, approximately 6 mgyday for adults (Allen and Cumming, 1998), and the intake of Al from cooking utensils is of growing concern (Jagannatha and Murthy, 1990). Unprocessed foods showed concentrations normally lower to 10 mgykg, but this metal is used extensively in the food industry (Jagannatha and Valeswara, 1995). Once foods are processed, metal transfer should be studied. The possible connection between elevated tissue Al content and problems such as osteomalacia and neurodegenerative disorders has awakened interest