| Lead Poisoning from Homemade Wine: A Case Study Sam Mangas,1 Renuka Visvanathan,2 and Mike van Alphen1 1Environmental Health Service, Department of Human Services, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia; 2Department of Medicine, Queen Elizabeth Hospital, South Australia, Australia Abstract
 Department of Human Services
Queen Elizabeth Hospital 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 µg/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. Key words: bathtub enamel, food processing, lead, poisoning, wine. Environ Health Perspect 109:433-435 (2001) . [Online 30 March 2001] http://ehpnet1.niehs.nih.gov/docs/2001/109p433-435mangas/ abstract.html Address correspondence to S. Mangas, Environmental Health Service, Department of Human Services, PO Box 6, Rundle Mall, Adelaide, SA 5000 Australia. Telephone: 61 8 82267136. Fax: 61 8 82267101. E-mail: sam.mangas@dhs.sa.gov.au We thank the reviewers for Environmental Health Perspectives and the following reviewers from the Environmental Health Branch of the South Australian Department of Human Services: J. Fitzgerald, A. Langley, D, Simon, T. Maynard, J. Caire, B. Tassone, N. Walton, and V. Beadle. Received 6 July 2000 ; accepted 2 November 2000.
The full version of this article is available for free in HTML or PDF formats. |
