ALUMINUM IN SAUDI CHILDREN

Aluminum was determined in serum samples obtained from 533 Saudi femal e pupils aged 6-8 years who attended primary public school in Riyadh C ity, Capital of Saudi Arabia, The aluminum mean value was 23.21+/-15.2 5 mu g l(-1) in the range of 5.98-206.93 mu g l(-1). Serum aluminum le vels of pupils attending the Northern school area were higher than lev els found in pupils from other school areas (Southern, Eastern and Cen tral), Renal variables had no correlation with serum aluminum, On the other hand, a significant positive correlation was found between serum aluminium above 49.2 mu g l(-1) and urea (r=0.6, P <0.002). Although 53% of the screened schools had aluminum in water above the European U nion (EU) acceptable limit of 50 mu g l(-1), there were no differences in aluminum in water between the four different school areas in Riyad h, Factors such as drinking water, diet and the use of aluminum utensi ls may have contributed to this result, As there is a bulk of literatu re which highlights the adverse developmental effects of aluminum on c hildren and infants, it would be advantageous to establish regular alu minum monitoring.