Heavy metals in White wine

Overview

This provisional ingredient page records source-specific measurements for white wine. Its population contamination profile has not been synthesized. See Ingredients for the ingredient inventory.

Heavy metal contamination profile

The profile fields remain pending until an evidence synthesis supports a population estimate. Source observations are listed separately below.

Reported measurements

The population contamination profile on this page is unchanged. These notes do not set a typical value, an upper-tail value, or a certification limit.

White wine only

Where a paper also measured red wine, only the white-wine values are used. Red rows, and means that pool red and white, are not assigned to white wine.

Bora 2019 Table 5 White Average, µg/L: lead 32.56, cadmium 0.28, nickel 179.70, total chromium 541.17. Some cultivar averages sit outside their printed ranges. Those conflicts stay on the source note. Methods n and Table 5 n disagree and are both printed. Assessment of Trace Elements and Human Health Risk Present in Wines Obtained in the Region of Dealurile Munteniei and Dealurile Moldovei Vineyards

Tariba 2011 is lead only. Eleven white rows, including home-made wines. Commercial Istria Malvasia 2008 is 49 ± 1 µg/L. A home-made Rab mix dry white 2009 is 276 ± 2 µg/L. Color-pooled medians are not used. Determination of Lead in Croatian Wines by Graphite Furnace Atomic Absorption Spectrometry

Onache 2022 has no recovery percentage. White prose only, with decimal commas as printed: Feteasca Alba, Iasi, lead 37,77 μg/l and also 37,76 μg/l. Monitoring The Content of Heavy Metals in The Soil and Wines from Different Wine-Growing Areas of Romania

Alonso Gonzalez 2021 Table 4 white means are in ng/l as captioned: lead 25.62, total arsenic 1.12, cadmium 0.65, total mercury 0.10, aluminum 987.72, total chromium 20.08, nickel 62.52, tin 0.69. The discussion also prints ng/ml for some of the same numerals. This page does not convert them. Elemental composition, rare earths and minority elements in organic and conventional wines from volcanic areas: The Canary Islands (Spain)

Bora 2018 prints 52.29 ± 1.00 µg/L as cadmium in the abstract and as lead in the results, both for Feteasca Regala. The authors’ white-wine mercury average is 0.18 µg/L and white-wine arsenic is 9.25 µg/L. Elemental content and lead-strontium isotope characterization of wine

Donici 2018 white-group cadmium is 0.11 µg/L and white-group arsenic is 12.45 µg/L. The abstract prints white mercury 0.20 µg/L. A results sentence prints both 0.24 µg/L and 0.20 µg/L for white wines. Both figures are printed. No white lead cell was recovered. Data gap for white lead in that paper. Multi-element composition of red and white wines from Bujoru, Smulti and Oancea wine center, Romania

Caridi 2019 white S13 (Ciro) is lead 9 µg/L, arsenic 13 µg/L, and cadmium 0.30 µg/L. Radioactivity and Heavy Metals Concentration in Italian (Calabrian) DOC Wines

Jakkielska 2023 prints one white-group mercury mean, 0.075 µg/L. The white group (n = 31) includes an apple ice wine. Other metals in Figure 1 are chart-only. Determination of Metal Content by Inductively Coupled Plasma-Mass Spectrometry in Polish Red and White Wine Samples

Skendi 2020 is homemade wine, not commercial. White n = 8, mg/L: lead mean 0.025 ± 0.006 mg/L, cadmium mean 0.002 ± 0.000 mg/L, nickel mean 0.156 ± 0.141 mg/L, total chromium mean 0.003 ± 0.002 mg/L. Arsenic was below the limit of detection. A statistical zero for below-detection samples is not entered as a concentration. Preliminary Study of Microelements, Phenolics as well as Antioxidant Activity in Local, Homemade Wines from North-East Greece

Gajek 2021 Table 7 white N = 75, µg/L: total chromium mean 59.41, nickel mean 41.86, cadmium mean 9.416, lead mean 41.98, tin mean 28.1. Mercury not detected in all 180 wines is not a white-only result. Multi-Elemental Analysis of Wine Samples in Relation to Their Type, Origin, and Grape Variety

Bora 2020 names Feteasca Alba cadmium as 0.09 ± 0.01 µg/L. The storage-temperature grid is not copied because the text-layer header of that block does not match the prose. Determination of Heavy Metals Concentration in Wine Using Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry (ICP-MS)

Tin is printed for some white wines. No reused tin-specific gut sentence is on this page. Data gap: inorganic arsenic, methylmercury, and hexavalent chromium were not measured as those species.

White wine fermentation and gut studies of the metals named on this page

White wine fermentation changes the product’s own yeasts and bacteria. That is a different question from biomarker lead, drinking-water cadmium, urinary arsenic, methylmercury demethylation in a review, hair metals, or a hexavalent chromium gavage. A winery file should not treat a gut paper as a fermentation result, or a plate count as a gut result.

Sitarik et al. 2020 measured tooth lead and stool microbiota at 1 month and 6 months in 146 maternal-child pairs in the Detroit-area WHEALS cohort. In utero tooth lead was associated with fungal community composition at 1 month. Lead was not associated with overall bacterial community structure. Taxon-level bacterial shifts were higher Collinsella at 1 month, higher Bilophila at 6 months, and lower Bacteroides. The direction is lead exposure toward microbiota composition. Tooth lead is a biomarker, not a concentration in this ingredient.

Eggers et al. 2023, per WikiBiome source summary, DOI 10.3389/fmicb.2023.1193919, followed 123 children in the Mexico City PROGRESS cohort. Maternal blood lead means were 33.6 µg/L in the second trimester and 34.9 µg/L in the third. Stool metagenomes at ages 9 to 11 showed lower Bacteroides caccae with lead exposure. Weighted quantile sum regression gave a negative overall mixture effect (beta = -0.17) in both trimesters. The direction is prenatal lead toward the childhood gut microbiota. The summary does not support a lead concentration in food.

Liu et al. 2023, per WikiBiome source summary, DOI 10.3389/fvets.2023.1219729, exposed Sprague-Dawley rats to cadmium chloride for 30 days. The note states lower intestinal ZO-1, higher TNF-alpha and IL-6 in intestine and blood, and Muribaculaceae in blood that was absent in the unexposed group. The note does not print the dose or the number of rats. The direction is cadmium toward gut and blood microbiota and barrier markers.

Zhang et al. 2015, per WikiBiome source summary, DOI 10.1021/acs.chemrestox.5b00237, gave mice 10 mg/L cadmium in drinking water for 10 weeks. Firmicutes and gamma-proteobacteria decreased in feces after 4 weeks, and Firmicutes decreased in cecum contents after 10 weeks. The direction is cadmium toward gut microbiota, alongside hepatic energy-metabolism changes in the same animals. The summary does not name a food.

Hoen et al. 2018 related urinary total arsenic at 6 weeks to stool microbiota in 204 infants in the New Hampshire Birth Cohort Study. Urinary total arsenic had median 0.4 µg/L and mean 0.63 µg/L. Feeding-stratified means were 0.5 µg/L in exclusively breastfed infants, 0.9 µg/L in mixed-fed infants, and 1.2 µg/L in formula-only infants. Overall composition was marginally associated with natural-log urinary arsenic after adjustment for feeding and urine specific gravity (pseudo-F 1.85, p = 0.05). The clearest association was in formula-fed males (n = 33, pseudo-F 2.30, p = 0.008). Formula-fed females (n = 23) did not show that association. The direction is an early-life arsenic biomarker toward infant gut microbiota. Urinary arsenic is not a concentration in this ingredient.

Dahan et al. 2018, per WikiBiome source summary, DOI 10.3389/fmicb.2018.01323, exposed larval zebrafish to 10, 50, and 100 ppb arsenic in water for 20 days. Arsenic exposure explained 54.7 percent of the variance in overall bacterial composition. The class 1 integron relative copy number at the highest concentration was 9 times the control value. The note does not state whether the dissolved arsenic was inorganic or total, and it does not give the number of larvae. The direction is arsenic in water toward the larval microbiome. The model is not a human gut, and the summary does not support an arsenic concentration in food.

Giambo et al. 2021, per WikiBiome source summary, DOI 10.3892/wasj.2021.90, screened 600 articles and included 97. For mercury, the note states that methylation and demethylation are a core process in methylmercury metabolism and that microbiota changes have been linked to neurodevelopmental effects in rat offspring. The note does not assign a new sample size to that mercury summary. The direction summarized is microbiota toward methylmercury metabolism, and exposure toward microbiota in the offspring studies. The review does not test this ingredient.

Xiong et al. 2025, per WikiBiome source summary, DOI 10.1038/s41467-025-60508-8, followed 146 mother-infant pairs, with maternal hair trace elements measured in 119 mothers. Shannon diversity of the infant gut at 3 months correlated positively with selenium and negatively with copper. Bifidobacterium relative abundance increased under high aluminum and high manganese together, so the note does not separate aluminum from manganese. The note states that high copper and arsenic may enrich antibiotic resistance genes. Hair concentrations are not printed. The direction is prenatal trace-element biomarkers toward the infant gut. Hair is not a food sample.

Mu et al. 2023 gavaged mice with potassium dichromate at 75 mg/kg for 29 days (n = 60 across three groups). Hexavalent chromium lowered Chao1 diversity from 170.75 ± 15.79 to 87.00 ± 9.55 (p = 0.00029) and Shannon diversity from 4.64 ± 0.68 to 2.64 ± 0.64 (p = 0.0055). Escherichia_Shigella rose from 10.71 percent to 57.75 percent. Seaweed polysaccharide at 200 mg/kg partly reversed the shift. The direction is hexavalent chromium toward gut microbiota. The dose is a gavage dose. It is not a total-chromium concentration in food.

Richardson et al. 2018, per WikiBiome source summary, DOI 10.1038/s41598-018-24931-w, gavaged Sprague-Dawley rats for 5 days with sodium arsenite, cadmium chloride, sodium dichromate, cobalt chloride, or nickel chloride, 5 rats per cohort. The note does not print the milligram doses. Observed OTUs and Shannon diversity were lower for arsenic, chromium, and nickel (p < 0.05). Differential genera numbered 37 for nickel, 17 for arsenic, 5 for cadmium, and 10 for chromium. Sodium dichromate is a hexavalent chromium salt, so the chromium arm is not a total-chromium result. The direction is short oral exposure toward the rat gut microbiota.

Yang et al. 2023 compared 109 occupationally nickel-exposed workers with matched controls. Serum nickel in the exposed group was 5.70 ± 3.21 µg/L, serum uric acid was 355.95 ± 67.87 µmol/L, and uric-acid-lowering bacteria, including Lactobacillus and related taxa, were lower. The direction is occupational nickel toward gut microbiota and then toward a host metabolite. Serum nickel is not a concentration in this ingredient.

Study table

What remains uncertain

No study cited here served white wine and then sequenced the gut. Dahan and colleagues did not name the arsenic species. The mercury sentence is a review and does not speciate wine mercury. Chromium in the gavage studies was a hexavalent salt, which is not total chromium in wine. The aluminum finding is combined with manganese. Occupational serum nickel is not nickel in wine. Liu and colleagues do not print the cadmium dose.

FDA TDS FY2018–FY2020 source observations

FDA measured the prepared foods named below. Each row describes that food and preparation, not every form of this ingredient. Values are µg/kg (ppb) on the FDA sample basis. ND means not detected; it is not a measured zero. Reporting limits can vary between composites. FY2018-FY2020 TDS Elements Analytical Results

References

Works cited in this page’s text, in first-appearance order. See Sources for this page’s source inventory. Each title links to a source record with bibliographic details, reported findings, and document provenance.

1. Assessment of Trace Elements and Human Health Risk Present in Wines Obtained in the Region of Dealurile Munteniei and Dealurile Moldovei VineyardsFlorin Dumitru Bora, Anamaria Calugar, Claudiu Ioan Bunea, and Ionut Racz · Bulletin of University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine Cluj-Napoca Horticulture · 2019 · doi.org/10.15835/buasvmcn-hort:2019.0006Peer-reviewed
2. Determination of Lead in Croatian Wines by Graphite Furnace Atomic Absorption SpectrometryBlanka Tariba, Alica Pizent, and Zorana Kljakovic-Gaspic · Archives of Industrial Hygiene and Toxicology · 2011 · doi.org/10.2478/10004-1254-62-2011-2073Peer-reviewed
3. Monitoring The Content of Heavy Metals in The Soil and Wines from Different Wine-Growing Areas of RomaniaPetronela Anca Onache · International Journal of Multidisciplinary Research and Analysis · 2022 · doi.org/10.47191/ijmra/v5-i2-16Peer-reviewed
4. Elemental composition, rare earths and minority elements in organic and conventional wines from volcanic areas: The Canary Islands (Spain)Pablo Alonso Gonzalez · PLoS ONE · 2021 · doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0258739Peer-reviewed
5. Elemental content and lead-strontium isotope characterization of wineFlorin Dumitru Bora, Alina Donici, and Anamaria Calugar · Studia UBB Chemia · 2018 · doi.org/10.24193/subbchem.2018.1.11Peer-reviewed
6. Multi-element composition of red and white wines from Bujoru, Smulti and Oancea wine center, RomaniaAlina Donici, Emese Gal, Claudia Cimpoiu, Claudiu Ioan Bunea, and Florin Dumitru Bora · Studia UBB Chemia · 2018 · doi.org/10.24193/subbchem.2018.4.09Peer-reviewed
7. Radioactivity and Heavy Metals Concentration in Italian (Calabrian) DOC WinesFrancesco Caridi, Domenico Pappaterra, and Giovanna Belmusto · Applied Sciences · 2019 · doi.org/10.3390/app9214584Peer-reviewed
8. Determination of Metal Content by Inductively Coupled Plasma-Mass Spectrometry in Polish Red and White Wine SamplesDorota Jakkielska, Ioannis Dasteridis, Maciej Kubicki, Marcin Frankowski, and Anetta Ziola-Frankowska · Foods · 2023 · doi.org/10.3390/foods12173205Peer-reviewed
9. Preliminary Study of Microelements, Phenolics as well as Antioxidant Activity in Local, Homemade Wines from North-East GreeceAdriana Skendi, Maria Papageorgiou, and Stefanos Stefanou · Foods · 2020 · doi.org/10.3390/foods9111607Peer-reviewed
10. Multi-Elemental Analysis of Wine Samples in Relation to Their Type, Origin, and Grape VarietyMagdalena Gajek, Aleksandra Pawlaczyk, and Malgorzata I. Szynkowska-Jozwik · Molecules · 2021 · doi.org/10.3390/molecules26010214Peer-reviewed
11. Determination of Heavy Metals Concentration in Wine Using Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry (ICP-MS)Florin Dumitru Bora · Romanian Journal of Horticulture · 2020 · doi.org/10.51258/RJH.2020.17Peer-reviewed
12. Fetal and early postnatal lead exposure measured in teeth associates with infant gut microbiotaSitarik AR, Arora M, Austin C, Bielak LF, Eggers S, Johnson CC, et al. · Environment International · 2020 · doi.org/10.1016/j.envint.2020.106062Peer-reviewed
13. Prenatal lead exposure is negatively associated with the gut microbiome in childhoodEggers S, Midya V, Bixby M, Gennings C, Torres-Olascoaga LA, Walker RW, et al. · Frontiers in Microbiology · 2023 · doi.org/10.3389/fmicb.2023.1193919Peer-reviewed
14. Environmental cadmium exposure alters the internal microbiota and metabolome of Sprague-Dawley ratsLiu S, Deng X, Li Z, Zhou W, Wang G, Zhan J, et al. · Frontiers in Veterinary Science · 2023 · doi.org/10.3389/fvets.2023.1219729Peer-reviewed
15. Subchronic Exposure of Mice to Cadmium Perturbs Their Hepatic Energy Metabolism and Gut MicrobiomeSongbin Zhang, Yuanxiang Jin, Zhaoyang Zeng, Zhenzhen Liu, and Zhengwei Fu · Chemical Research in Toxicology · 2015 · doi.org/10.1021/acs.chemrestox.5b00237Peer-reviewed
16. Sex-specific associations of infants’ gut microbiome with arsenic exposureAnne G. Hoen, Juliette C. Madan, Zhigang Li, Modupe Coker, Sara N. Lundgren, Hilary G. Morrison, et al. · Scientific Reports · 2018 · doi.org/10.1038/s41598-018-30581-9Peer-reviewed
17. Exposure to arsenic alters the microbiome of larval zebrafishDahan D, Jude BA, Lamendella R, Keesing F, and Perron GG · Frontiers in Microbiology · 2018 · doi.org/10.3389/fmicb.2018.01323Peer-reviewed
18. Influence of toxic metal exposure on the gut microbiotaGiambo F, Italia S, Teodoro M, Briguglio G, Furnari N, Catanoso R, et al. · World Academy of Sciences Journal · 2021 · doi.org/10.3892/wasj.2021.90Peer-reviewed
19. Prenatal exposure to trace elements impacts mother-infant gut microbiome, metabolome and resistome during the first year of lifeXiong S, Xie B, Yin N, Zhu H, Gao H, Xu X, et al. · Nature Communications · 2025 · doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-60508-8Peer-reviewed
20. Seaweed polysaccharide relieves hexavalent chromium-induced gut microbial homeostasisMu J, Guo Z, Wang X, Wang X, Fu Y, Li X, et al. · Frontiers in Microbiology · 2023 · doi.org/10.3389/fmicb.2022.1100988Peer-reviewed
21. Exposure to toxic metals triggers unique responses from the rat gut microbiotaRichardson JB, Dancy BCR, Horton CL, Lee YS, Madejczyk MS, Xu Z, et al. · Scientific Reports · 2018 · doi.org/10.1038/s41598-018-24931-wPeer-reviewed
22. Nickel exposure induces gut microbiome disorder and serum uric acid elevationJinfeng Yang, Pengya Feng, Zhenmin Ling, Aman Khan, Xing Wang, Yanli Chen, et al. · Environmental Pollution, Vol. 324, 121349 · 2023 · doi.org/10.1016/j.envpol.2023.121349Peer-reviewed
23. FY2018-FY2020 TDS Elements Analytical ResultsU.S. Food and Drug Administration · FDA Total Diet Study · 2022 · www.fda.govDataset

Sources

Sources catalogued for this page. The last column says how each source is used here.

Update history

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