Analysis of Total Arsenic Content in California Wines and Comparison to Various Health Risk Criteria

Abstract

Concerns have recently been raised regarding the presence of arsenic in California wine. Total arsenic concentrations in 101 wines produced or bottled in California were characterized using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. Of these wines, 28 were wines identified in media reports as containing arsenic concentrations greater than the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Maximum Contaminant Level for drinking water of 10 μg/L. The remaining 73 wines were randomly purchased at local retailers. Blush wines were found to contain the greatest total arsenic concentration (mean = 27.2 μg/L; SD = 16.9 μg/L) regardless of sampling group, followed by white wines (mean = 10.9 μg/L; SD = 11.0 μg/L) and red wines (mean = 6.75 μg/L; SD = 7.33 μg/L). Moreover, the publicized group of wines was found to have significantly (p < 0.05) greater total arsenic concentrations (mean = 25.6 μg/L; SD = 12.0 μg/L) than the random wines (mean = 7.42 μg/L; SD = 10.2 μg/L). The concentrations of total arsenic in all wines evaluated in this analysis were less than the two currently used arsenic guidelines for wine of 100 μg/L and 200 μg/L. Results from the statistical analysis suggest that no more than 0.3% of California wines (if any) may contain arsenic concentrations greater than the 100 μg/L guideline. A significant inverse association between total arsenic concentration and unit wine price was also identified in this analysis. Chronic daily intake of arsenic as a result of wine consumption was estimated to account for a small fraction (<8.3%) of a typical adult’s dietary arsenic intake, indicating that wine consumption is not a significant source of total arsenic exposure. These results indicate that the presence of arsenic in wine does not represent a health risk for consumers.