Guest guest Posted September 10, 2003 Report Share Posted September 10, 2003 I would expect the acid in the wine to leach some of the lead, but I don't know if it significant enough to cause lead poisoning, which would probably vary from person to person. But acid *does* leach lead from silica. You can actually get these tested somehow from lead leaching. Their are labs that specialize in testing pottery for safety of lead glazes, as specifics in how it is made, fired, etc, can influence whether the lead will leach or not. I would think a quick and easy but less accurate way of testing it would be to test the pH of your wine, then let it sit in the glass for an hour and test it again. If you have a significant change maybe that means lead is leaching? Chris > I received some lead crystal wine and champagne glasses as a wedding gift--I really love them and I don't drink too often (maybe 2x a week). From the website: > > Riedel Vinum Champagne Cuvée > > Riedel, which began producing glass in Europe in 1756, was the first company to develop a series of glasses in different shapes and sizes designed to match various types of wine. The 24% lead crystal Vinum series glasses enhance the wine tasting experience, revealing the wine's harmony and bouquet. The shape of each glass, tailored to the grape variety, highlights its particular flavors by directing where the wine first meets the tongue's taste zones. These glasses expose a larger surface area of the wine to oxygen, releasing its full aroma. Riedel glasses provide a superb wine experience, showing off each wine's brilliant color, taste and aroma. Hand washing recommended. > Visit Riedel's Web Site. > California Prop. 65 WARNING: Use of this product will expose you to lead, a chemical known to the State of California to cause birth defects or other reproductive harm. You may return this product for a full refund within 30 days of receipt, if you wish. You may also obtain a list of each brand of leaded crystal tableware for which the same warning is given. > > Any opinions? > > TIA, > > > > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted September 19, 2003 Report Share Posted September 19, 2003 - Get a nice lighted display for them, enjoy their appearance, show them off to people, point to them whenever the people who gave them to you come over, and never ever ever drink out of them. >Any opinions? - Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted September 19, 2003 Report Share Posted September 19, 2003 Really??????????? Is there evidence that lead actually can get into wine from my glasses????? I don't really have room for decorative glassware. Someone suggested doing a ph test in two kinds of glass--don't know if this will tell me anything about lead, though... thanks, Re: Lead Crystal? - Get a nice lighted display for them, enjoy their appearance, show them off to people, point to them whenever the people who gave them to you come over, and never ever ever drink out of them. >Any opinions? - Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted September 20, 2003 Report Share Posted September 20, 2003 - >Really??????????? Is there evidence that lead actually can get into wine >from my glasses????? Yes, AFAIK it's not really in dispute that acidic beverages can leech lead out of the glass and into the liquids. OK, it was surprisingly hard to find solid data (most sites just referred to the fact that studies have shown that lead leaches out into wine and other acidic beverages but didn't provide footnotes or numbers) but here you go. From http://orion.oac.uci.edu/~epinet/The_Lead_Page/estimated_environ.html >>Lead may leach from lead crystal decanters and glasses into the liquids >>they contain. Port wine that contained an initial concentration of 89 >>ug/L lead was stored for 4 months in crystal decanters containing up to >>32% lead oxide. At the end of 4 months lead concentrations in the port >>were 5,331, 3,061, and 2,162 ug/L in decanters containing 32%, 32%, and >>24% lead oxide, respectively. Lead was also found to elute from lead >>crystal wine glasses within minutes. Mean lead concentrations in wine >>contained in 12 glasses rose from 33 ug/L initially to 68, 81, 92, and 99 >>ug/L after I, 2, 3, and 4 hours, respectively (Graziano and Blum 1991). The short-term rise in lead levels in wine from glasses may not seem sufficient to worry about, but I'd still strongly advise avoiding it like the plague. (In fact, I was alarmed to notice the lead level of wine before it had ever been exposed to the glasses, though I wonder whether they were testing wine that had been stored in bottles sealed with leaded foil, which is a whole separate problem to worry about.) (I was also horrified to discover in the course of googling the issue that pool cue chalk is apparently a major source of lead! Over 7g/kg, per MB, Curry SC, Kunkel DB, et al. Pool cue chalk: a source of environmental lead. Pediatrics 1996;97(6 Pt 1):916-917!) - Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted September 26, 2003 Report Share Posted September 26, 2003 In a message dated 9/19/03 3:20:27 PM Eastern Daylight Time, jc137@... writes: > Really??????????? Is there evidence that lead actually can get into wine > from my glasses????? I don't really have room for decorative glassware. > Someone suggested doing a ph test in two kinds of glass--don't know if this will > tell me anything about lead, though... If you're referring to what I said, I suggested testing the pH of the wine before it's in the glass, and testing it afterwards. I don't know if litmus paper or any easily obtainable tool to measure the pH would be precise enough to show the difference, but if anything is leaching from the glass, the pH will change. If I'm thinking correctly, the pH would lower, since bases that would otherwise form OH- ions from water would leach the lead, and the equilibrium for the water autoionization would shift to favor more H+ ions. Does this make sense to other folks who understand chemistry? Chris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted September 26, 2003 Report Share Posted September 26, 2003 Re: Lead Crystal? In a message dated 9/19/03 3:20:27 PM Eastern Daylight Time, jc137@... writes: > Really??????????? Is there evidence that lead actually can get into wine > from my glasses????? I don't really have room for decorative glassware. > Someone suggested doing a ph test in two kinds of glass--don't know if this will > tell me anything about lead, though... If you're referring to what I said, I suggested testing the pH of the wine before it's in the glass, and testing it afterwards. I don't know if litmus paper or any easily obtainable tool to measure the pH would be precise enough to show the difference, but if anything is leaching from the glass, the pH will change. If I'm thinking correctly, the pH would lower, since bases that would otherwise form OH- ions from water would leach the lead, and the equilibrium for the water autoionization would shift to favor more H+ ions. Does this make sense to other folks who understand chemistry? Chris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You are posting as a guest. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.