Toxic compounds in homemade spirits in Bosnia and Herzegovina: A pilot study

Abstract

The main aim of this preliminary study was to investigate the presence of potentially toxic compounds (methanol, hydrocyanic acid and urea) in homemade fruit spirits produced in different parts of Bosnia and Herzegovina. A total of 15 samples of 8 different fruit spirits were analyzed (apple, apricot, cherry, grape, pear, plum, quince and juniper). Content of hydrocyanic acid was higher than maximum permissible level in 5 out of 15 samples. In general, the average content of methanol was higher in samples from Bosnia comparing to the samples from Herzegovina (874.62 vs. 563.99 g/hL of pure alcohol), but still was lower than maximum concentration proposed by national regulation (1200 g/hL of pure alcohol for fruit spirits and 1000 g/hL of pure alcohol for grape spirit) except for one grape spirit sample (1162.2 g/hL of pure alcohol). Urea was detected in all analyzed samples (5.819 to 77.82 mg/L) with the average

Is There a Need for Alcohol Policy to Mitigate Metal Contamination in Unrecorded Fruit Spirits?

“…This may be due to illegal or informal production, cross-border shopping, as well as the use of surrogate alcohol not originally intended for human consumption (e.g., automotive products, cosmetic or medicinal alcohol) [1][2][3][4]. In some countries in Central and Eastern Europe as well as the Balkans, the majority of unrecorded alcohol consumption may derive from home production of spirits from sugar-containing fruit materials such as cherries, plums, apples, pears or grapes, which grow in abundance in these countries [5][6][7][8][9][10][11]. The level of unrecorded consumption in the WHO European region varies between 3% (Austria) and 75% (Azerbaijan) (average 21%) of total alcohol consumption (calculated based on WHO data for 2016 [12]).…”

Is There a Need for Alcohol Policy to Mitigate Metal Contamination in Unrecorded Fruit Spirits?

“…automotive products, cosmetic or medicinal alcohol) [1][2][3][4]. In some countries in Central and Eastern parts of Europe as well as the Balkan, the major amount of unrecorded alcohol consumption may derive from homeproduction of spirits from sugar-containing fruit materials such as cherries, plums, apples, pears or grapes, which grow in abundance in these countries [5][6][7][8][9][10][11]. The levels of unrecorded consumption in the European region varies between 3% and 75% (average 21%) of total alcohol consumption (own calculation based on WHO data for 2016 [12]).…”