LEAD IN BEER

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXIV, Issue 22922, 28 December 1937, Page 15

LEAD IN BEER

THREE MEN POISONED BRITISH HEALTH REPORT [FROM OCR OWN correspondent] LONDON. Nov. 20 Three cases of lead poisoning from beer are discussed in the annual report of Sir Arthur McXalty, chief medical officer of the Ministry of Health. In the first case, in a London borough, the man's minimum daily consumption was .18 half-pints of bitter beer, and he was in the habit of remaining at the public house continuously except during closing hours. It was discovered that the beer was drawn from the barrels through old lead piping, and an analysis of the beer showed the presence of one part per million of lead. The lead piping was replaced by corrosion-resisting steel alloy. In the second case the man drank about a gallon of beer a day. He visited his club every morning and obtained the first drawing of beer. Samples of the beer, which had stood in the pipes overnight, were found to contain 1.3 and 5 parts of lead per million respectively. Samples were obtained from other clubs, and, while sortie were free, others contained lead up to 2.8 parts per million. The use of lead pipes is condemned. The third case was that of a man who had apparently been drinking from a bottle which had contained paint and had not been properly washed out.