Overview
The authors measured 20 metals by ICP-MS in cheap sachet-packaged spirits and locally distilled spirits consumed in Acoli, northern Uganda, and in one single malt Scotch whisky used as a comparison, and assessed cancer and non-cancer risks. The main text gives pooled summary statistics across products (Table 3); per-brand values are in a supplementary table that is not available here. Copper was very high in the locally distilled spirits, and ethanol itself dominated the hazard index.
Key numbers
- Pooled spirits, lead: mean 0.2 µg/L, median 0.1 µg/L, maximum 1.1 µg/L (Table 3).
- Pooled spirits, arsenic: mean 1.3 µg/L, median 0.6 µg/L, maximum 9.7 µg/L (Table 3).
- Pooled spirits, cadmium: mean 0.0 µg/L (rounded), maximum 0.1 µg/L (Table 3).
- Copper: locally distilled spirit at Teso Bar 12100 ± 1881 µg/L; Scotch whisky 407 µg/L (Table 4 footnote d).
Methods (brief)
Twenty milliliters of each spirit were refluxed with nitric and hydrochloric acid at 93 °C for 2 hours and analyzed in duplicate by ICP-MS with collision cell mode. Quality control used ethanol-water blanks, spiked control duplicates, second-source standards every 10 samples and a leaching check of the sample tubes. Detection limits are only in the supplement.
Evidence Fitness
Eighteen samples, chosen on a first-encounter basis rather than randomly. Most are neutral spirits, which are a proxy for whiskey; the single Scotch whisky is measured directly, but only its copper value is printed in the main text, so its lead, cadmium and arsenic values are not available here. Pooled statistics mix very different products (sachets, copper-still local spirits and the whisky).
Related evidence
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