The levels of Pb contamination in wine and other
alcoholic beverages are given in Tables 4 and 5, respectively.
In both cases there was considerable variability
in the results, which reflect the presence of lead
contamination in the raw materials used during production
or secondary contamination from different technological
processes. Lead was detected in all samples of
wine analyzed, although the levels were similar to those
reported by other authors (Gonzalez et al., 1988; Baluja-
Santos and Gonzalez-Portal, 1992; Henick-Kling and
Stoewsand, 1993; Cabrera et al., 1994a). We observed
considerable variability in the results, not only between
the different types of wine but also between samples
from the same region or the same vintage year. This
emphasizes the large number of unknown factors that
can increase the presence of this toxic element in wine.