HELP: oops, guess I stirred a bit to much..... (0/1)

The glass is no problem, it will be left behind during the racking. Do not know about the liquid and what ever else was in the thermometer. It is probably not toxic but it would not hurt to find out who make the thermometer and contact them. In the mean time, continue with the batch. You have weeks to figure out who made it and contact them.

Ray

You only have to worry if the thermometer used mercury.

On closer inspection, the thermometer part of the unit is still intact, and working I might add. the(outside) glass is to make it submersible, and the "as yet" unidentified little metal pellets that washed into the mix were, I believe, just for weight at the bottom. And they were outside the thermometer tube, but inside the glass housing. I'm gonna take your advice Ray, and continue on while I identify all the components of this little device... thanx for that!

KJ

I would make sure those little round balls are not made out of lead. If they are, couldn't that be an issue?

BBQ

My thoughts exactly, it usually is lead. Lead is a problem, wine is acidic and will disolve some of it into suspension sooner or later.

Rack it, now. Maybe add another packet of yeast because you may lose some in a rack this early.

See if the metal is soft, if it is you can have the batch tested for lead at a lab. I have no idea whether it's safe to drink or not. I am way out of my realm of experience. If it's not lead I can't say it's not an isuue either. It's not a lot of material and not a lot of contact time, but I just don't know what is best here.

Joe

BBQ wrote:

You're both right.. it is lead and i'm dumping the whole works. Guess i'm off to the wine store soon for another kit...thanx for all replies here! I'm attaching here a copy of the letter I sent to an aquarium supply house in the US, and their reply....

THING The beads are filled with Lead......they are safe for fish tank where there is nothing affecting humans....this is not approved for human consumption...the lead pellets are encased in glass....so there should be no leakage but do not take any chances.,...

He recommended something digital....nothing in our product line is approved for any association with human consumption.....

Please once again DUMP THE WHOLE VAT OF WINE!!!!

For Christ's sake . Rack it now and go ahead . People have been drinking from lead pipes and "lead crystal" for years . Maybe there is some lead in the wine . How much ? can't be much . Did you ever spill gas on yourself in the old days . How about 1 gram of lead in every gallon of gas .

I don't want to sound rash , but what did you expect them to say . If they were glass beads , they would say the same thing . Nobody wants the liability these days .

Greg

That's why I said test it. I added way too much copper sulfate to a wine once, I took it to a local testing house to verify the copper was not over the legal limit. It wasn't, and it was really well made wine. It only cost $35. I went to Microbac in Pittsburgh. I'm sure they have a food safety test lab in your area, just call your county health department if you can't find them under 'testing' in the yellow pages. They will tell you how much they need; I think I took about 8 ounces. If they tell you not to waste your time and dump it, then dump it.

Joe

Jambo, I am of similar opinion as Greg. The amount of lead which would dissolve in your short time of exposure is, in my opinion, minimal. Cumulative lead ingestion leads to heavy metal poisoning and its side effects.

I'll add to Greg's list of historical lead ingestion sources:

-- Calcium supplements (yes, lead and calcium are usually together in the mined ore); not a lot of lead in each of those tablets, but not insignificant when taken over extended time.

-- The old practice of using lead foil for the top wrapping on wine bottles (before they changed to alumininum or plastic).

-- Pre-1978 paint (as lead oxides); NOTE: greatly reduced in 50's; not totally eliminated in some paints until 1978.

-- Industrial 'red lead' primer for steel I-beams, etc.

-- The original formulation of Grecian Hair Color for Men - the black color in it was lead acetate.

-- Buckshot used to pack shotgun shells for hunting.

-- The vapors inhaled while melting and pouring lead fish sinkers.

-- The vapors from soldering the lead caning bars used to make stained glass artwork.

-- The 'filler' used in the old days for car bodies (instead of Bondo)

-- for those of us electronics hobbyists, the 'smoke' we've inhaled while soldering using our lead-tin solder.

It is up to you to decide your tolerance for lead exposure. YMMV, Gene

Greg Boyd wrote:

Thanx for the interesting stats Gene, but the deeds been done, there's no looking back; dumped it this morning. Someone said to me,"ya know, everytime you open one of those bottles you're gonna wonder if you're poioning yourself or someone". She's right, the peace of mind is worth the price of the kit, so its done with,, lesson learned. Thanx for all the replies folks!

Jambo