Total Recoverable Aluminum: Not Totally Relevant for Water Quality Standards.

A large water quality data set, representing more than 100 surface-water locations sampled from 2007 to 2017 in the Los Alamos area of New Mexico, USA's Pajarito Plateau, was assembled to evaluate Al concentrations in unfiltered and filtered samples. Aluminum concentrations often exceeded United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) and New Mexico ambient water quality criteria (AWQC), regardless of filter size and sample location. However, AWQC are based on laboratory toxicity studies using soluble Al salts and do not reflect natural conditions in Pajarito Plateau surface waters.