Heavy Metals in Wines

If you’re a wine lover, you might want to avoid European wines because you get more than tasty wine when you have glass. Most european wines also contain seven deadly heavy metals, and, heavy metals, such as maganese, accumulate in the brain and have been linked to diseases such as Parkinson’s.

The seven most common heavy metals found in Europeans wines were

• chromium
• copper
• lead
• maganese
• nickel
• vanadium
• zinc

To accomplish the study, researchers did not do any original research but rather gathered, tallied, and compiled data from other studies. They published their findings in October 2008 and found that a target hazard quotient (THQ) of over 1 can pose a health risk. Many of the wines from Europe easily exceed that THQ. To help with a comparison of the toxicity level, in America, fish and seafood with heavy metal levels of between 1 and 5 are considered a problem. 

Here’s how some countries rated.

 

Country	THQ
Argentina	<1
Austria	>100
Brazil	<1
Czech Republic	>100
France	>100
Germany	>300
Hungary	>350
Italy	<1
Portugal	>100
Serbia	>300
Slovakia	>350

 

Wine drinkers may also have more to worry about than just heavy metals, as grapes in America are frequently heavily sprayed with pesticides. So, if you’re looking for alternatives to European or pesticide-sprayed wine, organic wines are “hot,” and you can learn more by reading Organic Vines Create Better Wines.