Like Red Wine with Dinner? Maybe Think Again
First it was rice. Now it's red wine. Arsenic , anyone? According to a new study, arsenic is found in many red wines, even some in the metro New York region. A new University of Washington study that tested 65 wines from America's top four wine-producing states — California, Washington, New York and Oregon — found all but one have arsenic levels that exceed what's allowed in drinking water. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency allows drinking water to contain no more than 10 parts per billion of arsenic. The wine samples ranged from 10 to 76 parts per billion, with an average of 24 parts per billion. But a companion study concluded that the likely health risks from that naturally-occurring toxic element depend on how many other foods and beverages known to be high in arsenic, such as apple juice, rice, or cereal bars, an individual person eats. Want to be really scared? The highest risks from arsenic exposure stem from certain types of infant fo...