SCIENCE IN THE NEWS DAILY

Danger Lurking in Your Bottle of Red

from the Times (London)

Wines from 13 different countries contain potentially hazardous levels of metals, according to a chemical analysis by British scientists.

The findings suggest that the health benefits of drinking red wine may often be counter-balanced by risks posed by excessive levels of metals such as copper, manganese and vanadium, researchers at Kingston University said.

Wines whould also be labelled with their ion metal content, and manufacturers need to introduce new methods to remove the potentially hazardous material from their products, they said. Metal ions are charged atoms, which play an important role in body biochemistry but which can also be hazardous in excess amounts.