Smoking tin foil

[Queso]

there is an urban legend amongst the universal community of pot-heads that says smoking tin foil leads to alzheimers.

 

me, being the hypographer that i am, wondered about this.

i was wondering where the proof of this is, and/or could someone please further explain how this works to me?

[zadojla]

Interesting. Since "tinfoil" is really aluminum, could this be related to the urban legend that cooking in aluminum pots leads to Alzheimer's?

[Queso]

must be. does anybody know anything about this?

[Turtle]

___Let's call the Mythbusters guys! I watched then shoot a 50 caliber rifle into a pool tonight to see how far in the water the bullet went! It disintegrated within about 2 feet of penetration.

Smoking in metal,

never is good,

no matter the load,

clay , glass, or wood!

[Queso]

i prefer glass. but that's off the subject. i'd really like to see some proof, or even where this myth was derived from.

[Turtle]

___The proof is in the taste if nothing else. Metal tastes bad smoking in it, so to me it is bad to smoke in. :eek:

[Queso]

good point. since smoking anything in general is bad for you anyways, you should just find what feels less bad. which also means good, if you don't want to get technical.

i just smoked out of wood and it is such a humble feeling.

i don't know what else to say. biochemist, do you know anything? you always give me really thorough answers, and i appreciate that.

and turtle, brotherly conductive creatively. always.

peace.

[Boerseun]

Research has shown that people suffering from Alzheimer's have a generally higher aluminium content in their brains than healthy people of the same age group.

 

This could have lead to the stories about aluminium pots.

 

Myself, I don't know - rather safe than sorry...

[adjective]

Straight from the horse's mouth (or at least the first horse I found): "As evidence for other causes continues to grow, a possible link with aluminium seems increasingly unlikely." [http://www.alzheimers.org.uk/Facts_about_dementia/Risk_factors/info_aluminium.htm]

 

Also: "It has been suggested that aluminium may be linked to Alzheimer's disease, although that research has recently been refuted; aluminium accumulation may be a consequence of the Alzheimer's damage, not the cause. In any event, if there is any toxicity of aluminium it must be via a very specific mechanism, since total human exposure to the element in the form of naturally occurring clay in soil and dust is enormously large over a lifetime." [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aluminum]

 

To me, the last sentence of the wikipedia excerpt seems particularly damaging to the hypothesis. However, aluminum is rarely found in its pure form in nature, so it could be that aluminum compounds are harmless and that raw aluminum, released through chemical and physical processes into our consumable goods, is not so harmless.

 

I have to wonder, though, why anyone would be smoking out of aluminum foil to begin with? Just buy some rolling papers. Sheesh.

[infamous]

Interesting. Since "tinfoil" is really aluminum, could this be related to the urban legend that cooking in aluminum pots leads to Alzheimer's?

 

This is more than an urban legend, I recently viewed a program on a TV special that affirmed this to be a real consequence of injesting aluminum compounds.

[C1ay]

"There is no proof, and the current consensus is that aluminum does not play a major role in the development of Alzheimer's disease. But because the causes of the disorder are not understood at this time, one cannot rule out the possibility that aluminum could play a minor role. In our Center, we do not recommend that people avoid aluminum cooking pans or aluminum-containing antiperspirants or antacids because there is little evidence that such lifestyle changes are helpful. Moreover, it is impossible to avoid ingesting a certain amount of aluminum, which is found naturally in food and water."

 

"In the mind of many scientists, if aluminum plays a role it is most probably a secondary one. The reasoning for this position is based on the fact that aluminum is one of the most abundant and pervasive elements. It is found everywhere--it is in the water we drink, it is in the dust we breathe, it is in many of he substances we use every day such as coke in glass bottles, food preservatives, many cosmetics and food dyes. Even if we stop using pots and pans or underarm deodorants, it will be virtually impossible to avoid aluminum. Given this type of exposure of the general population, if aluminum is playing a major role then one would expect the numbers of people affected by Alzheimer's to be much higher than they are found in epidemiological studies."

More.....

.......

[nkt]

Oh dear.

 

Anyway, I suspect that the free, or reactive, aluminium ions are the issue, rather than the safely oxidised ones. Aluminium is very strongly reactive with Oxygen, forming the very stable Al2O3. Burning something in contact with foil would cause the results to be a little less stable, and so subject to further reaction, possibly oxidation. If this occurred after inhalation and absorbtion into the blood stream, who knows what might happen?

 

I know that there is a connection between Aluminium ions in drinking water and "blue baby syndrome" - we get it here sometimes, in dry years, when fertilizer gets into the drinking water. The kids turn blue and get ill due to far too much nitrate in the body. I think there is some effect with aluminium pots for cooking which makes it worse, but I might be mis-remembering. Cooking acidic things like jam in an aluminium pot is a bad idea, too, iirc.

[IMAMONKEY!]

:eek: Ive never smoked so i cant exactly help ya there... MOst urban legends are false, but i guess this one might have some merit because of the increased aluminum levels in brains with Alzheimers.

[Pyrotex]

...I have to wonder, though, why anyone would be smoking out of aluminum foil to begin with? Just buy some rolling papers. Sheesh.

That's how I was introduced to smoking weed!!! :) Some friends came over and noticed I had a couple of tobacco pipes, you know, briars. They asked to borrow one. They asked if I had any aluminum foil and an ordinary #2 pencil. A small square of foil was formed tightly around the eraser end of the pencil. A pin was used to punch several closely spaced holes in the foil. then the foil was placed over the bowl of the pipe; the dimple formed by the eraser was inside the bowl; and the outer edges of the foil pressed around the pipe bowl. The small dimple, maybe 1/3 of an inch deep, with the holes at the bottom, was filled with weed, and this was how we smoked it.

 

And that's how I got Alzeimer's and became forgetful and stupid.

What was I talking about??? :hihi:

[InfiniteNow]

I have to wonder, though, why anyone would be smoking out of aluminum foil to begin with? Just buy some rolling papers. Sheesh.

Most head shops are closed in the middle of the night, and often those who smoke a lot of pot don't have the money for papers. (we didn't at least). Another issue is the interesting mix between boredom and creativity. Ever made a bong out of a potato? Ever made a pipe out of an empty soda can? Tried to remove the tobacco from a cigarette and then try to refill it with bud? Cut the bottom off of a 5 gallon water bottle - insert a bowl into the cap - go into a lake - and take the biggest lung popping hit of your life from this insane man's gravity bong? Been camping and made it your mission to carve a homemade pipe out of a stick you found before the night is out? Ever...

 

 

Wow. Writing that reminded me of some of the dumb **** I've done while stoned. My god... is that how I spent my college years. Oyyy.... :hihi:

[Pyrotex]

...Writing that reminded me of some of the dumb **** I've done while stoned. My god... is that how I spent my college years?

InfiniteNow, your post really took me back! I've been having "flashbacks" for the last five minutes! LOL :)