'Rain' column lacks real science

Dear Mr. Harris: I have read your article on "raindrops, part 1." It would be an understatement to say that I am shocked that a man with your scientific training would make such a huge number of erroneous scientific statements. I hope that prior to part 2 you do at least a minimum amount of research. There is no way that I can spend the time to provide a proper education here but will hit some highlights:

1. Aluminum is NOT a heavy metal and has no toxicity in occurring forms at reasonable rates on intake to either flora or fauna. This would be just as well as it is the largest occurring metallic element in the Earth's crust.

2. If aluminum was sprayed in the atmosphere to be reflective it would fall very shortly to the ground. Only the metallic form would be reflective and the density difference between it and air would be too great to allow for suspension. We would most certainly be able to see this in the quantities that you purport.

3. If it were sprayed "from horizon to horizon" it would require large masses of material and numerous delivery devices, none which have been noted.

4. "Aluminum has four times the volumetric capacity of SO2" makes absolutely no sense. Due to the higher density of Al over SO2 this statement is impossible.

5. "The coagulation rate is extremely low" is false. The single most major use of aluminum compounds is in coagulation of water. I could never be able to understand how coagulation would have anything to do in air anyway.

6. "VERY DANGEROUS" and then relating a purported and unproven activity to violent weather is disingenuous.

7. "10 MILLION MEGATONS" is a hoot. You need to look up the world wide annual production, you will find this amount to be greater than all of the aluminum ever produced since the invention of the smelting process in the mid 1880s. I can assure you that if such great masses were being used that the price of aluminum would be significant compared to today's quotes.

8. There is NO connection between the metals you have listed and Alzheimer's. In the '60s this was a theory as a group of Pacific Islanders had higher incidence of this disease and higher aluminum concentrations in their society. Since then I know of at least 10 peer reviewed studies that show no link. A simple web search will provide you with this information. My review of medical journals also shows no casual relationship to autism, as is asserted.

9. "Half life of decades." This is a nuclear term and has nothing to do with non-nuclear materials, aluminum being one of them. I will note that the metal is highly reactive with oxygen and forms a nearly inert oxide. This is the process of anodizing, used on decorative aluminum.

10. Trees "explode like Roman candles" would be false. Even if there were higher than normal contents of aluminum in flora, not proven, all chemical forms of aluminum are a fire suppressant. Metallic aluminum does burn, meaning oxidizes, at elevated temperatures, about 2000C. Aluminum does affect flora growth in highly acidic soils, meaning acid rain.

11. Metallic aluminum is insoluble in water, your statements on Shasta would be false. Aluminum is regulated in potable water by the EPA as a secondary. This means the regulations are for aesthetic rather than health reasons, the current standard is .2ppm.

12. Barium is not found as a metal; most forms are the most insoluble compounds known to man.

13. You seem to relate pH to metals, this would be false. I am sure that you are aware that pH is the logarithm of the hydrogen present. This means that a pH of 5 has 10 times more hydrogen than a pH of 6, the numbers quoted in your article would then be wrong. pH of water should be between 6 and 8.5. Low pH does make metals more soluble in water, the very reason why we watch for it in Lake Couer d'Alene, don't want to see the metals on the bottom go into solution.

14. Last but not least is the seeming connection you have made between metals and Agent Orange. I am sure that the most simple research will show you that there are no metals in Agent Orange. Agent Orange is 2,4D 2,4,6T, you use this in your garden as Weed be Gone. It is not harmful or bio accumulating. Unfortunately during Vietnam this product was made in a high temperature process that caused dioxins to be formed as a byproduct, these are a huge problem to nature.

The average person is woefully under-educated in scientific matters. The bulk rely on information in sources such as yours. This article is wrong on so many accounts and will most certainly result in unfounded fears. I would hope that you would give consideration to proper research and a correction. I recognize that The Press has a disclaimer but this article should never have been published, or at least placed in the OP-ED section rather than posted as news.

John Huckabay is a Coeur d'Alene resident and a chemical engineer who works with water treatment.