Influence of hexacyanoferrate (II) based treatments upon the elimination of heavy metal traces in wine. II. The case of cadmium.

The present study has shown that the cadmium content of wine can be greatly reduced by two treatments normally associated with the removal of copper and iron from wine. The European treatment requires the addition of tetrapotassium hexacyanoferrate (II), K4[Fe(CN)6] to the wine, whereas in the United States, the FDA-approved method, involves the use of a formulation known as the Fessler's compound, which contains the Williamson salt i.e. iron (II) potassium hexacyanoferrate (II), K2Fe[Fe(CN)6]. For a test wine very lightly loaded with iron and consequently requiring the addition of only a very small quantity of iron remover, 72-82% of the cadmium can be eliminated. At higher iron concentrations where the amount of reagent added is increased, the removal of cadmium from the same wine can be as great as 95%.

Influence of hexacyanoferrate(II) based treatments upon the elimination of heavy metal traces in wine. I. The case of lead.

An investigation was undertaken to determine whether the wine treatments for elimination of iron and copper used in Western Europe--with tetrapotassium hexacyanoferrate(II): K4[Fe(CN)6]--and in the United States--with iron(II) and potassium hexacyanoferrate(II) ('Fessler compound')--are suitable for lowering the concentration of lead to within legal limits. In both series of experiments the decrease in lead concentrations remained very poor. It was concluded that the treatments using hexacyanoferrates lowered lead levels but not sufficiently to reduce completely lead contamination in wines.

The problem of methanol concentration admissible in distilled fruit spirits.

Some distilled fruit spirits contain, normally, high quantities of methanol. After a brief summary of the process of methanol formation during fermentation and of the toxicological data, methanol concentrations of some distilled fruit spirits are indicated. Then, maximal amounts of methanol in spirits fixed by some countries are discussed as well as the problems which are generated by legislation.

[A study of the level of human contamination by cadmium (results of a regional survey) (author's transl)]. / Etude du niveau de contamination de l'homme par le cadmium (résultats d'une enquête régionale).

In order to estimate the level of human contamination by cadmium, the metal was analysed in liver and kidneys of 268 persons after death. Analysis was performed by using atomic absorption spectrometry after nitroperchloric mineralization. The concentrations thus determined allowed to calculate, by means of some approximations, the total amounts of cadmium in these organs and also in human body. The values obtained are comparatively low, and they show important variations which are partly related to sex and to age. These results are compared to other authors'.