Some years ago, I was conducting a rather awkward phone interview (“You really don’t know much about evolution, do you?”) with the late paleontologist Stephen Jay Gould. I’d been hoping for some great quote about “wonder” to use on the cover of the book I was then working on, Everyday Wonders: Encounters with the Astonishing World Around Us. “Does wonder have a place in evolutionary theory?” I asked – naively, apparently. Nope. “How about curiosity then?” He finally allowed that yes, attraction to novelty might be seen as a useful evolutionary adaptation. (Not much of a cover blurb there!)

Which might, though, explain in a word or two our apparently uncontrollable weakness for “clickbait” websites. Clickbait is, of course, those advertising lures that take advantage of our innate curiosity/attraction to novelty. So we (OK, me, but I can’t believe you’re totally immune) are seduced by the sort of thing that rolls down the side of our email screens: “You’ll never believe what happened when this mother of five opened her birthday present!” or “Ten items you must never go without on vacation” or “Doctors everywhere are recommending this miracle cure!”

And this one, which has been popping up on my screen for at least five years: “Doctors Now Have Warning: If You Use Aluminum Foil, Stop It or Face Deadly Consequences” (thanks for the option!). Essentially, this meme (and a couple of similar “aluminum = bad” come-ons) argues that aluminum has been linked to Alzheimer’s disease, and that any time you cook using aluminum foil or pots, the metal will leach into your bloodstream, head up to the brain, and cause a buildup of plaque there. (This plaque, found during autopsy following death, is what defines the disease.)

Auguste Deter, the first patient to be described with what became known at Alzheimer’s disease. She was a patient of Dr. Alois Alzheimer at the time, 1901. (Public domain)

The aluminum-Alzheimer’s connection has been around for 40 years. Some studies show slightly higher levels of aluminum in the brains of people with dementia; other studies don’t. The evidence isn’t enough to convince, e.g. the U.S. Alzheimer’s Association (alz.org), which puts the aluminum connection on its “myths” page: “… studies have failed to confirm any role for aluminum in causing Alzheimer’s … few [experts] believe that everyday sources of aluminum pose any threat.”

In its own analysis, the fact-checking site Snopes takes issue with the purported connection, pointing out that, while it’s true that aluminum can be leached into the body from foil and pots (especially at high temperatures and when the food is acidic), it’s also readily excreted: “… healthy humans … absorb between 0.06% and 0.4% of ingested Al” (from a 2011 study published in Neuroscience). And of whatever remains in the body, 1% ends up in the brain. So we’re talking some small fraction of a small fraction of whatever tiny amount gets into the body in the first place.

But there’s a better way of looking at this. In the United States, about 30,000 workers in the aluminum industry are exposed to the metal on a daily basis – and not just in trivial amounts. Yet – quoting from the Alzheimer Society of Canada website (alzheimer.ca) – “Studies have not found an increased incidence of dementia in people with occupational exposure to aluminum.”

All of which isn’t proof that those sensationalist headlines are completely off the wall; it’s just that after 40 years, researchers trying to find a connection between aluminum and Alzheimer’s have hit a brick wall. So next time you’re tempted to click on such a claim, remember: advertisers know how to enlist your natural curiosity into the service of making them rich.