Excess dietary aluminum increases Drosophila's rate of aging.

Aluminum concentrations in the whole organism increased during development and aging of Drosophila melanogaster. The amount of aluminum in the flies was also reflected by the dietary content of aluminum. Additional dietary aluminum, in the form of aluminum salts, decreased the life span by as much as 20%. A significant reduction in life span was found for 1 X 10(-4) M aluminum chloride and for 1 X 10(-3) M aluminum nitrate and aluminum sulfate. Dietary sodium fluoride failed to increase life span.