slightly OT - "Flame retardants in cellars taint wine"

Enjoyed the article! Very interesting. Thanks for posting.

Excerpt:

The chemical is made when bacteria digest a commonly used flame retardant and fungicide called tribromophenol. This chemical was known to taint fruit packed in cases made from treated wood. But its affect on wine hadn't been quantified.

Chatonnet's team found TBA in the cellars' walls, barrels and corks. The wooden racks in one cellar contained 2,185 nanograms of TBA per gram of wood. In wine that had been stored in one-year-old barrels, concentrations were as high as 38 nanograms per litre.

This isn't a toxic level. But most people can taste TBA's musty flavour at concentrations as low as 4 nanograms per litre - about the same as one sugar cube dissolved in 100 Olympic swimming pools of water.

SOURCE:

"Flame retardants in cellars taint wine. A new chemical culprit can make wine taste musty. "

That is interesting. Another source of cork taint. Even Barrel taint.

Ray