| environ. |
aluminium A light white metal, ductile and malleable, and a good conductor of electricity. It occurs widely in nature in clays and is the third most abundant element in the Earth's crust. It is extracted mainly from bauxite by electrolysis of a molten mixture of purified bauxite and cryolite. The metal and its alloys are used for aircraft, cooking utensils, electrical apparatus, and for many other purposes where its light weight is an advantage. Aluminium became implicated as an environmental health hazard in the 1980s on two counts. Biomedical scientists looking for possible causes of Alzheimer's disease, the premature senility indicated by loss of memory and confusion, found a circumstantial link with aluminium. The theory is a controversial one, Al (白色轻金属，具延展性和良好的导电性。存在于自然界之的黏土矿物中，是地壳中含量第三高的元素。它主要是由萃取铁铝氧化物得到，而铁铝氧化物是电解含有熔融的纯铁铝氧化物和冰晶石的混合物而得。因铝具有质轻的优点，故此金属及其合金常使用于航空器、烹调器具、电器设备和许多其他用途。自20世纪80年代起，铝被认为会对环境健康造成两个方面的危害。生物医学家正在寻找引起老年痴呆症的原因，其过早衰老意味着记忆的丧失和混乱，而这种病症可能与铝有关联，惟此理论仍具争议性。) |
