Asbestos fibers in wines: relation to filtration process

Our plain-English summary of Asbestos fibers in wines: relation to filtration process, by A. Gaudichet, M. Bientz, P. Sebastien, et al (Journal of Toxicology and Environmental Health, 1978).

The study

• Authors: A. Gaudichet, M. Bientz, P. Sebastien, G. Dufour, J. Bignon, G. Bonnaud, J. Puisais
• Journal: Journal of Toxicology and Environmental Health
• Published: 1978;4(5-6):853-60
• Cited by: 6 articles, as counted by NIH iCite
• Read it: PubMed · Publisher

Abstract

Asbestos fibers were counted by using the transmission electron microscope in 42 wines from France and abroad. Fifteen samples were found to be significantly positive for chrysotile asbestos. Concentrations were in the range of 2--64 X 10(6) fibers per liter. Technical investigations showed that the abestos content of the wines was related to the process by which they were filtered. On the other hand, we found that abandoning the use of asbestos for filtering wines would not alter the wine from the enological point of view.

In plain English

This laboratory study measured asbestos fibers in wine. It did not examine anyone's health. Using a transmission electron microscope, the authors tested 42 wines. Most were bought in French shops (French, Italian, Algerian, Israeli and Spanish wines), and a few were sent from the United States and Switzerland. How these wines had been filtered was unknown. Fifteen samples were significantly positive for chrysotile asbestos, at 2 to 64 million fibers per liter. Every asbestos fiber seen was chrysotile, and most were ultimate fibrils. In a second part, samples of one wine were filtered by common methods with or without asbestos. The original wine held 2 million fibers per liter. After filtration with asbestos materials it held 9 to 46 million, and after cellulose and diatomite filtration 0.8 million or none detected. The authors stated that filtering with asbestos increases asbestos in wine and that dropping asbestos would not alter the wine enologically. They called the survey results only indicative because sampling was unsystematic. They urged surveillance of possible asbestos ingestion and prohibition of asbestos filtering processes.

We wrote this plain-English summary from the full article with the help of AI, and a second AI model checked each sentence against the article. It is not the authors' wording; the abstract and the article are their own account.

What the study did and found

• Design: Laboratory measurement study in two parts: a survey of wine samples, then an analytic comparison of one wine filtered by different processes. Fibers were counted and identified by transmission electron microscopy. No human health outcomes were studied.
• Who was studied: Survey part: 42 wine samples. Most were bought at random in French shops (French wines, and Italian, Algerian, Israeli and Spanish wines). A few were sent from the United States (California) and Switzerland. Analytic part: six samples of the same wine, plus the original unfiltered wine.
• Exposure: Chrysotile asbestos fibers in wine, linked to filtration. One method was pad filtration through sheets of asbestos and cellulose (10-25% asbestos), pure cellulose, or diatomite. The other was continuous injection of a filter additive: diatomite powder with asbestos or cellulose fibers added.
• Main results:
  • Of the 42 wines, 15 were significantly positive for chrysotile asbestos, at concentrations of 2 to 64 million fibers per liter.
  • All asbestos fibers observed in the wines were chrysotile. Mean fiber lengths ranged from 0.9 to 3.9 micrometers, individual diameters rarely exceeded 0.4 micrometers, and most fibers were ultimate fibrils.
  • In the analytic study, the original wine contained 2 million asbestos fibers per liter. After filtering with asbestos materials, counts were 24 million per liter (continuous injection, asbestos plus diatomite), 9 million (normal pad filtration, asbestos sheets) and 46 million (sterilized pad filtration, asbestos sheets). After filtering with cellulose plus diatomite, counts were 0.8 million (continuous injection), not detected (normal pad filtration) and 0.8 million (sterilized pad filtration).
  • The authors stated that filtering processes containing asbestos increase the asbestos content of filtered wines.
  • The authors reported that giving up asbestos for filtering wine would not alter the wine from the enological (winemaking) point of view.
• The authors' conclusion: The authors noted that no significantly increased incidence of gastrointestinal cancer can be connected directly with asbestos ingestion. However, they concluded that the carcinogenicity of asbestos fibers shown in epidemiologic and experimental studies must prompt surveillance of possible asbestos ingestion and prohibition of filtering processes that use asbestos.
• Limitations the authors state:
  • The survey results can be considered only indicative, because the wines were sampled unsystematically and came from several different countries.
  • Much more work is needed to specify how the filtration process affects contamination, in particular filtration pressure and the ratio of filter area to filtered volume.

Topics

Medical terms in this study, explained in our Lexicon: Chrysotile.

Related studies

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• Capture efficiency of portable high-efficiency air filtration devices used during building construction activities — D.A. Newcomer, P. LaPuma, et al. (2018)
• Toxicity of cell culture medium due to filtration through asbestos pads — W. House (1964)
• Certification of probability of sterilization of liquid by filtration — D.M. Portner, C.R. Phillips, et al. (1967)
• A method of treating asbestos filter pads for virus filtration — N.S. Hyslop (1961)

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