Alumina oxide vs aluminum in detox clays

[Guest guest]

In our little meeting of bay area beyond biomed parents this

afternoon, the topic of aluminum in clays came up. Here is a copy of

my post to our local biomed board a day or two ago. This is just my

understanding - if anyone has any conflicting information, please post

it so I can look into it further. Personally, I don't EAT the clay so

my research was mostly on transdermal absorption from the baths.

If I did decide to take it internally, I'd do pre/post UTM and FM

tests to see of AL went up. That still wouldn't convince me it was in

the clay though, because the symbol is AL203 (I think). I'd need to

know if Doc Data spec machine was testing for processed aluminum or

natural alumina oxide. It's my understanding that alumina oxide

doesn't have a toxic impact on the body.

If someone is already eating the clay, it would be good to call Doc

Data and have the tests done to know......

Here is my posting:

********************************************

Re: Clay bath question for !

There seems to be a bit of confusion in the difference between alumina

oxide (symbol AL03 or AL203?) and aluminum (symbol AL). The former is

a naturally occurring inert mineral often found in the earths crust,

the latter is an inorganic man made metal. Aluminum is too chemically

unstable to occur alone in nature and it's normally bound to other

minerals - only separated after mining in the smelting process. The

chemically reactive man made form is the one we want to stay away from.

The only way you are going to get toxin's from natural clay is if they

are contaminated by man. Not saying it doesn't happen, but I trust the

LL's Magnetic Clay company would consider it bad for business, making

an effort to get non-contaminated sources. I tried to get a lab to

test before and after use samples, but didn't find any takers.

I told the staff at LL's that I was planning to get lab testing done

and they didn't seem alarmed. Actually they were interested and I

found that reassuring.

You can find similar discussions about aluminum in betonite clay

on-line. It is a bit confusing if you aren't familiar with the

properties of minerals and metals.

My husband is a materials expert and will disgorge details from his

" Metals 101 " decades old classes at the drop of a hat. Plus he's a

minerals buff (what a geeky hobby!). We work with metals and plastics

every day in our business, so we are pretty clued in on the chemical

properties of industrial materials.

Ahhh - just had a thought..... next time The Smart Mama comes

back to the bay area I can have her test a sample of the clay with her

XRF gun. Just when I thought I'd had everything possible tested - I

think of something else!

I don't need to have anything else tested in my home, so perhaps I can

drop a sample over to someones house who is on the list for next time?