Carole Cross was only 59 when she died A scientist has described the Camelford water contamination as a “mass poisoning of 20,000 people that was ignored for 22 years”.
Aluminium expert Chris Exeley was giving evidence at the inquest of Carole Cross who lived in the area at the time of the contamination.
After hearing from two scientists, South West Water gained an adjournment “to obtain its own evidence”.
Coroner Dr Michael Rose said the inquest would be delayed for months.
Mrs Cross lived in Camelford when 20 tonnes of aluminium sulphate was accidentally added to the water supply in 1988.
She was found to have high levels of aluminium in her brain after her death from a rare form of Alzheimer’s.
Dr Exeley, from Keele University, told the inquest in Taunton that he believed there was a link between the Camelford poisoning and Mrs Cross’s death.
He said: “The level of aluminium in her brain was so high… it’s not the sole cause of her death but it’s probably responsible for the aggressive form and the very early onset of her disease.”
Mrs Cross was 59 when she died in 1994.
At the time of the Camelford incident local residents were advised to mix their drinking water with orange squash to make it more palatable.
Dr Exeley said that was “the worst thing” that they could have done, because orange affected the absorption of aluminium in the body.
No warnings about the water contamination were given to the public for three weeks Residents were also told to boil the water, which Dr Exeley said would have increased the concentration of aluminium.
The Camelford poisoning happened in July 1988 when a relief delivery driver accidentally added aluminium sulphate, used to treat cloudy water, to the wrong tank at the Lowermoor works.
That night the South West Water Authority (SWWA) was inundated with about 900 complaints about dirty, foul-tasting water.
But no warnings about what had happened were given to the public for another three weeks.
Local residents reported suffering health problems, including stomach cramps, rashes, diarrhoea, mouth ulcers, aching joints and some even said their hair had turned green from copper residues.
Last week the SWWA’s former chairman and chief executive Keith Court said the firm had not wanted to create “undue alarm” by telling people in the north Cornwall area what had happened.
The hearing continues.
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