To assess the dietary exposure level of aluminum among residents aged 15 years or above in Shanghai.

Residents (n=1 944) aged 15 years or above who lived in Shanghai were enrolled by multi-stage stratified ran dom sampling. A diet survey was carried out in different seasons by 24-hour diet recall and weighing method in three consecutive days, followed by food aggregation according to total diet study, food sampling and preparation, and determination of aluminum concentration in the analytical samples to assess the dietary exposure level of aluminum in residents.

A total of 1 748 valid questionnaires were returned with a response rate of 89.92% (1 748/1 944). Higher concentrations of aluminum were detected in flo ur product samples such as deep-fried dough sticks. The concentration in deep-fried dough sticks exceeded the national lim it standard in each season, and the mean was 469.33 mg/kg in spring which was 5 times as much as the national standard. The means of dietary aluminum intakes among the subjects in four seasons were 1.39, 0.51, 0.72, and 0.35-0.52 mg/kg body weight, re sp ectively, with significant differences. Grains, vegetables, and drinks and water were major sources of dietary aluminum exposure. The result indicated that the dietary aluminum intakes among residents living in downtown area were higher than those in rural area in each season. Moreover, the proportion of residents in downtown area whose dietary aluminum intakes exceeded the provisional to le ra ble weekly intake (PTWI) was up to 21.29% in spring. In addition, the dietary aluminum exposure had no significant differences across various sex or age subgroups.

Dietary aluminum intakes are high among residents aged 15 years or above, especially among those living in downtown area in spring. The government should strengthen regulation of flour products such as deep-fried dough sticks, and the citizens should decrease the intake of food containing aluminum, especially deep-fried dough sticks.