Lead poisoning from homemade wine: a case study.

Abstract

A 66-year-old man suffered the symptoms of severe lead poisoning for 2 years before diagnosis. The man had a blood lead level (PbB) on admission to hospital of 98 microg/dL. A detailed investigation revealed that the poisoning occurred as a result of drinking a homemade red wine, for which analyses showed a lead concentration up to 14 mg/L--70 times the Australian maximum limit for lead in wine. The source of the lead was a highly corroded enamel bathtub in which grape crushings and juice were stored for a week prior to bottling. The corrosion of the enamel surface of the bathtub had resulted in pitted patches up to 1 mm in depth along the side of the bathtub. Powdering of the tub surface was evident below a level where wine had been in contact with the sides of the tub. The homemade wine had a pH of 3.8, which would have greatly contributed to the solubilization of metals from the glaze. We conducted a test in which commercial red wine of similar pH and containing < 0.2 mg/L lead was placed in this tub for 7 days. Subsequent testing revealed a lead level of 310 mg/L. This high lead concentration is consistent with the surface area of enamel on the bathtub being in contact with a small liquid volume as in the case of the leaching test using commercial red wine. This case study highlights the importance of the use of food-grade materials for the preparation and storage of homemade beverages or food.

Measurement of Free Zinc Concentration in Wine with AGNES

“…where E peak stands for the peak potential of the DPP and γ M for the activity coefficient of M. By using expression 8, we computed the ratio EtOH γ M / w γ M , which resulted in 1.40 (7) obtained through four replicates of DPP experiments performed with a Zn solution with and without ethanol. The activity coefficient in ethanol is higher than in aqueous media, and this means a larger gain for a fixed potential applied, E 1 (see eq 1).…”

“…It has been pointed out that zinc causes the persistence of the sour taste . An excess content of some mineral substances may cause turbidity [e.g., Cu and Fe or Al and Zn , ] and may be harmful to human health , [e.g., Pb poisoning due to homemade wine consumption ]. Consequently, monitoring of the content and chemical form of potentially relevant elements can be of great interest.…”

Extreme gastric dilation caused by chronic lead poisoning: A case report

“…In literature, there are single reports on long-term lead exposure and few reports on lead poisoning from retained bullets [7,8] . Two-year consumption of homemade wine can cause lead poisoning [9] . Chronic lead poisoning has many symptoms and signs, including pains, numbness or tingling of the extremities, muscular weakness, headache, loss mood disorders, reduced sperm count, and abnormal sperm.…”