The States of Oregon, Washington, California and New York produce the best red wine in States, but according to a study conducted by University of Washington, there is higher arsenic level discovered in 98% of red wines, that underwent the testing procedure, as compared to the level found in US drinking water. The researchers have stated that it’s the total diet that predicts the health risk of consuming these wines.
Did you know that US drinking water has been permitted a certain permissible level of arsenic? It’s true, but then out of a sample of 65 wines gathered from the top four US wine producing states; there is only one red wine that showed arsenic levels that did not exceed that of drinking water states the UW study.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency permits “drinking water to contain no more than 10 parts per billion of arsenic. The wine samples ranged from 10 to 76 parts per billion, with an average of 24 parts per billion”, state the reports. The wines from Washington averaged at 28 parts per billion, which is a very high arsenic concentration and Oregon averages at 13 parts per billion.
Denise Wilson claimed “There were no statistical differences among Washington, New York and California,The only star in the story is Oregon, where arsenic concentrations were particularly low.” Pesticide residue may be the reason of the high arsenic levels in Washington, stated the study professor.
Side by side another study corresponding to the arsenic consumption states that arsenic is a naturally occurring toxic element in foods and the health risks because of this depends on how many other high arsenic rich beverages and foods, like cereal bars, apple juice, rice a person consumes. The comparison study estimates that the arsenic exposure that can be categorized in the high risk category may be certain kinds of infant formulas that are commonly used.
The October issue of Journal of Environmental Health hosts these two studies done by Denise Wilson a UW electrical engineering professor and she claims “Unless you are a heavy drinker consuming wine with really high concentrations of arsenic, of which there are only a few, there’s little health threat if that’s the only source of arsenic in your diet.”
The professor further insisted that “consumers need to look at their diets as a whole. If you are eating a lot of contaminated rice, organic brown rice syrup, seafood, wine, apple juice — all those heavy contributors to arsenic poisoning — you should be concerned, especially pregnant women, kids and the elderly.”
Arsenic is a toxic metalloid that enters the food chain and is present in diet. Excessive quantities of this deadly substance can lead to lung, bladder and skin cancers and other illnesses.
The study focused on arsenic and lead, in red wines that were made from luscious grapes. He did the experiment on the grape skins as they are known to absorb arsenic from the soil. Lead was also found in 58% of samples but only 5% exceeded the drinking water samples
