Cadmium levels in wine, beer and other alcoholic beverages: possible sources of contamination.

An accurate and precise method is described for the direct determination of Cd in wine, beer and other alcoholic beverages by electrothermal atomization-atomic absorption spectrometry (ETA-AAS). The graphite furnace program was optimized and samples were pretreated with nitric acid and pentoxide vanadium in a digestion block at 120 degrees C for 90 min. The results obtained were validated against microwave acid sample digestion. The analytical detection limit was 0.5 pg. The proposed method was applied to determine Cd in 134 samples of 10 different alcoholic beverages. The mean values ranged from 0.10 to 15.38 microg/l in wine, from not detectable to 0.80 microg/l in beer, and from not detectable to 11.52 microg/l in other alcoholic beverages such as cider, brandy, rum, whisky, gin, anisette, liquor and spirits. The wide variability of the results obtained emphasizes the multiplicity of factors that can influence the presence of Cd in these products. Because alcoholic beverages are widely consumed, they contribute a large fraction of cadmium intake, and therefore, strict control of this element is advisable.