Lead, in wines

For regular consumers of alcoholic beverages, wine and beer may make a significant contribution to dietary lead intake and this is reflected in the higher blood lead levels found for drinkers. Lead in beer is also absorbed more readily from the gastrointestinal tract than lead from the rest of the diet. A survey of lead in wines and beers from lead-capped bottles in 1982/1983 showed that about 90% of canned and bottled beers sampled contained < 10 /v,g/l and that nearly half the draught beers sampled contained > 10 /v,g/l 4% contained > 100 /v,g/l. All wines sampled directly from the bottle contained < 250 /ig/1.12... 

J. C. Cacho, V. Ferreira, C. Nerfn, Determination of lead in wines by hydride generation atomic absorption spectrometry, Analyst. 117 (1992), 31-33. 

C. Cabrera, Y. Madrid, C. Camara, Determination of lead in wine, other beverages and fruit slurries by flow injection hydride generation atomic absorption spectrometry with on-line microwave digestion, J. Anal. Atom. Spectrom., 9 (1994), 1423-1426. 

G. P. G. Freschi, C. S. Dakuzaku, M. de Moraes, J. A. Nobrega, Simultaneous determination of cadmium and lead in wine by electrothermal atomic absorption spectrometry, Spectrochim. Acta, 56B (2001), 1987-1993. 

J. R. Dean, L. Ebdon, R. C. Massey, Isotope ratio and isotope dilution analysis of lead in wine by inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry, Food Addit. Contam., 7 (1990), 109-116. 

J. Szpunar, P. Pellerin, A. Makarov, T. Doco, P. Williams, B. Medina, R. Lobinski, Speciation analysis for biomolecular complexes of lead in wine by size-exclusion high-performance liquid chromatography D inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry, J. Anal. Atom. Spectrom., 13 (1998), 749D754. 

Hahnemann s Test for Lead in Wine. Take 1 ounce uick-lime, H ounces flowers of sulphur heat m a covered crucible for 5 or 6 minutes take 2 drachms of this compound (which is sulphuret of lime), 2 drachms tartaric acid powder, mix, and shako in a stoppered bottle with a pint of water let it settle, pour off the clear liquid, and add 11 ounces tartaric acid. The above test will throw down the least quantity of lead from wines, as a very sensible black pre-cipitate. 

In 1960, a study by Jaulmes et al. based on the analysis of 500 wine samples, showed that French wines had an average lead content of 180 p-g/1. In 1983, a survey by the French Ministry of the Environment reported that the average lead concentration in commercially available wines was 118 p.g/1. More recently, on the basis of 2733 samples analyzed in 1990, L Office National Interprofessionnel des Vins (ONIVINS) found an average value of 68 p.g/1. Pellerin et al. (1997) showed that lead in wine is partially combined in a stable complex with a pectic polysaccharide, a dimer of rhamnogalac-turonan II. This discovery sheds a new light on the toxicological problems related to lead in wine (Section 3.6.4). 

Lead-tin capsules are also a source of lead in wine. Jaulmes et al. attracted attention to this source of contamination as early as 1960. Capsules for still wines used to be made of lead covered with a thin layer of tin. Although the permeability of corks is minimal, there may be a slight leakage of wine that oxidizes to form acetic acid. This can erode the capsule, producing lead acetate. Contamination occurs mainly when the wine is poured. One study showed that the first glass poured from a bottle could contain up to 20 mg/1 of lead. Lead capsules have since been banned. 

Lopez-Artiquez M, Grilo A, Soria L, et al. 1990. Levels of zinc and lead in wines from area south of Seville. Bull Environ Contam Toxicol 45 711-717. 

Lead in wine An early target for interrogation by sono-ASV was monitoring trace amounts of heavy metals in alcoholic beverages [33]. Quantification of lead in a... 

Two Agencies Look at Lead in Wine, FDA Consumer (Nov. 1991) 2 Wine, Getting the Lead Out, Science News (21 Sept. 1991) 189. 

U.S. Food and Drug Administration, 2007. Guidance for Industry and FDA 1991 Letter to Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms Regarding Lead in Wine, March. Washington, DC. (accessed 31.07.10.). 

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