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Aluminum foil (2021)

dernocua.github.io

81–90 of 148 posts

Re: Aluminum foil (2021)

#81

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You shouldn't use aluminum foil with tomato/lemon/vinegar/brined foods or as "grilling packets" (direct fire/high heat) because of leaching risk. There's no concern with using aluminum in most cases (with dry/non-acidic foods) but leaching is a real problem with acidic/salty/wet/high eat.

What is the leaching risk, though? If aluminum does get in your food, is it bad for you in a specific way, or is it more like iron?

Like most metals, excess aluminum in your diet is almost certainly bad for you.

EFSA full review: animal studies show nervous-system effects from aluminum exposure. https://efsa.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.2903/j.efsa....

CDC/ATSDR: oral risk levels are based on neurological effects seen in exposed animals. https://wwwn.cdc.gov/TSP/ToxProfiles/ToxProfiles.aspx?id=191...

Re: Aluminum foil (2021)

#82
post #70
post #15

Photographers and cinematographers are like: ohhh let me sit you down and tell you all about my love of blackwrap. Aluminium foil is amazing stuff. Aluminium foil adhesive tape, in particular, is incredibly useful. Being a multi-domain kind of geek the random tapes section of my tool drawers also contains mylar tape and fashion tape (or "tit tape" as a friend calls it) but the aluminium foil tape has proved to have m…

Such as?

I have used it to repair torn foil of photographic umbrellas and softboxes, seal light leaks on a repaired darkroom enlarger head, make a reflective pattern for a photo shoot, add a temporary airtight seal on a cracked tube with just two thin layers of tape.

The main issue with the foil tape I have is that it is both thin and very sticky so it can be a pickle to remove.

Not really tested its conductivity yet but for example I realised the other day that I could probably use it to selectively light proof a 3D printed box.

Re: Aluminum foil (2021)

#83
post #30

> 50¢/m² is 50¢/kWp in a solar concentrator, or 0.05¢/Wp, which is noticeably cheaper than photovoltaic cells, currently around 18¢/Wp, 360 times more expensive. A photovoltaic cell is a solar panel, and a piece of aluminium does nothing, am I missing something here?

I think the implication is you can use it to reflect additional light onto your photocell, improving the power output for a smaller cost than purchasing an additional cell.

Why aren't photo cells already manufactured to be like 90% mirrors then?

Re: Aluminum foil (2021)

#84

Another thing not mentioned on there about aluminium foil is how clean it is. We work with a laminar flow hood and pull a fresh layer of foil anytime we are working to create a clean base to work on. I can guarantee you that if you run a swab over a fresh sheet of foil and smear it onto sterile nutrient agar that it won't grow anything - that said, we use costco foil which is thicker gauge and not the budget thinner…

Wasn't it a think that "stuff" dies on exposed metal?

I think it's the high-heat manufacturing process which kills all microbes. Spores would be unaffected by aluminium foil, so it's defo something else like heat is my thoughts - basically being sterilised during manufacturing.

Re: Aluminum foil (2021)

#85
post #79
post #57

I wasn't expecting to see Dernocua at the top of HN today with 53 comments. You can download Dernocua as a whole from http://canonical.org/~kragen/dernocua/ if you're interested. I'm happy to answer any questions. (Well, almost any.)

Does aluminum foil contain PFAS and does cooking on them on the grill for example expose the food to forever chemicals?

It does not, but aluminum oxide is even more of a "forever chemical" than teflon is, though less so than, for example, the nitrogen that constitutes 78% of the atmosphere.

Re: Aluminum foil (2021)

#86
post #72
post #57

I wasn't expecting to see Dernocua at the top of HN today with 53 comments. You can download Dernocua as a whole from http://canonical.org/~kragen/dernocua/ if you're interested. I'm happy to answer any questions. (Well, almost any.)

What's up with the dercuano, derctuo, and dernocua naming? Are there just these three? Does the naming follow some pattern?

Well, "Dercuano" sounds like "Dirk One Oh" in English, so clearly the sequel should be "Dirk Two Oh". And "Dernocua" is the properly formed vesre of cuaderno, unlike "Dercuano", which unfortunately certain people were too polite to inform me was ill-formed until too late.

:-)

Mostly I wanted a name that was short, easy to remember, and unique.

My current notes are in http://canonical.org/~kragen/sw/pavnotes2.git/

Re: Aluminum foil (2021)

#87

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What is the leaching risk, though? If aluminum does get in your food, is it bad for you in a specific way, or is it more like iron?

Aluminum is generally thought to be benign by most authorities. However, it is worth noting that humans were not exposed to aluminum in the environment until relatively recently, when we started extracting it from bauxite and melting it.

Aluminum is a major component of all soils, and soluble aluminum salts have been used in medicine and dyeing since ancient Greece, probably since ancient Egypt. They have been used in food preparation for at least several centuries.

Re: Aluminum foil (2021)

#88
post #5

I was enjoying the ADHD hyper focus writing, kind of following along, then: > If we figure that the foil can meaningfully change direction every 20 μm, then we might think of an aluminum-foil machine as being made of “moving parts” on the order of 1000 μm² (50 μm × 20 μm), 1000 “parts” per square millimeter of foil; a roll of kitchen aluminum foil is enough to fabricate some 4 billion “parts”. A bootstrapping compile…

It reads like a rambling of a mad scientist, but I think simply adding pictures would make this feel absolutely normal (in the crowd of other blogs featured on hn)

And today... I shall TAKE OVER THE WORLD, Igor!

Re: Aluminum foil (2021)

#89
post #85
post #79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Does aluminum foil contain PFAS and does cooking on them on the grill for example expose the food to forever chemicals?

It does not, but aluminum oxide is even more of a "forever chemical" than teflon is, though less so than, for example, the nitrogen that constitutes 78% of the atmosphere.

i guess in that case the question would be if one should be as worried about the biological effects of PFAS as much as these two other forever chemicals you cite
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