Lead is everywhere. It was commonly used in paint, gasoline, plumbing pipes, jewellery, bullets, fishing weights, glazes, and cosmetics. Some regulations are now in place to eliminate lead's incorporation into these products, but in many cases it is still being used. I watched a special on wine in Washington State, and the host explained why leaded crystal glasses are ideal for tasting because of the way they refract light, how thin they are, and how the rough surface helps aerate wine. I had no idea that "crystal glassware" likely contains lead. With a bit of digging I found that most wine glasses and decanters contain lead, and many are still being sold this way.
What Is Leaded Crystal?
Leaded Crystal Overview
Leaded crystal glassware is known for its shimmer, clarity, weight, and strength. These properties are due to the substitution of lead for calcium in glass. Lead allows the glass to be formed at lower temperatures with fewer bubbles, making it easier to work with. The history of leaded glassware goes all the way back to a recipe for lead glaze in a 1700 BC Babylonian tablet. Leaded crystal, which contains around 24% lead, is often referred to simply as "crystal glassware" — just as dental fillings consisting of more than 50% mercury are called "silver fillings." Not all crystal contains lead, as some glass manufacturers now use zinc and magnesium instead. After use, leaching of elements like lead from the glass surface leaves the crystal rough and pitted, allowing for better aeration of beverages when agitated.
The FDA recommended that lead crystal should not be used every day for wine consumption.
How Much Lead Leaches into Your Drink?
Leaching Lead from Crystal
The first thing that came to mind when hearing "leaded crystal" was: how much lead can actually be leached from the glass? Most scientific studies on this were completed in the 1990s, around the same time the dangers of lead exposure were becoming evident. Around this time the FDA recommended that lead crystal should not be used every day for wine consumption. They also noted that women of childbearing age should not use leaded crystal, and that no food or drink should be stored in crystal vessels.
It has now been established that there is no safe level of lead exposure, especially for children (who absorb 30–75% of lead ingested, while adults absorb around 10%). Highly acidic drinks such as soda, fruit juices, sweet tea, spirits, and wine will leach lead out of glass more quickly than neutral or alkaline drinks.
Key findings from studies on lead leaching from crystal glasses and decanters:
- Port wine kept in a leaded crystal decanter had a lead concentration of 3,518 µg/L after 4 months.
- Spirits stored in leaded crystal decanters long term had lead concentrations up to 21,530 µg/L.
- Sherry, port and Scotch whisky stored in leaded crystal decanters reached concentrations of 1,200 µg/L after 6–8 weeks, with some reaching over 1,000 µg/L after just a couple of days.
- Wine elutes small amounts of lead from leaded crystal within minutes.
- During a 30-minute period of wine storage in a leaded crystal glass, 50% of the total lead leached occurred within the first minute.
- Repeat wine leaching experiments show that less lead is leached with each consecutive glass poured, and that cleaning the glasses may expose new areas for lead to leach from.
If you are concerned about your cumulative lead exposure, our Toxic Heavy Metals & Elements testing page explains how a simple dried blood spot or urine sample can reveal your current levels.
Lead in Wine
Wine itself can be a major source of lead. The International Organisation of Vine and Wine set a maximum acceptable limit of 150 µg/L lead in wine. For reference, the EPA limits lead in drinking water to a maximum of 15 µg/L. Lead contamination comes primarily from lead in soil (leaded gasoline being a significant factor), fertilisers, and wine equipment. Some wine cap foils used to be made of lead, but were phased out in the 1980s. A major study showed that international wines (red and white) had average lead levels of around 34 µg/L, while wines from the United States were much lower at around 4.4 µg/L.
Understanding Your Lead Exposure
How Much Lead Are We Talking About?
It is difficult to determine the exact amount of lead you are exposed to from crystal glassware and wine. Many factors — timing, acidity, age of the leaded crystal, type of crystal, how it was cleaned, how many repeated uses, how it was stored, and the wine itself — will cause exposures to vary. The most recent guideline set by the FDA states that the Interim Reference Level (IRL) for lead intake is 3 µg/day for children and 12.5 µg/day for adults. From what the research shows, a wine high in lead will put you over the IRL after drinking one glass, while lead from leaded crystal can significantly add to that amount. One sip of whisky from a leaded crystal decanter can equate to months' worth of exposure in a single day.
Reducing Lead Exposure
The primary route of lead exposure is through ingestion. Data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) showed that the average wine drinker consumes around 1.5 glasses of wine per day. There are a number of practical steps that can help reduce lead exposure:
- Buy and use non-leaded crystal or glass. Riedel Glass Company has confirmed they have discontinued the sale of leaded crystal.
- New leaded crystal should be soaked in vinegar (very acidic) for 24 hours and rinsed thoroughly to leach as much lead as possible before first use.
- Wash leaded crystal by hand with a mild detergent (neutral pH), as dishwashers erode the glass, allowing more lead to leach.
- If you use leaded crystal, only use it for serving — never for storage. This especially applies to decanters, which hold wine and spirits for extended periods.
- Instead of using decanters and leaded crystal to aerate wine, use an alternate aeration device that attaches to the wine bottle or glass.
- Drink wine with a meal. A study showed that lead absorption on an empty stomach was 34%, while it was only 2.3% when consumed with a meal.
- Choose domestic wines rather than international ones.
Should You Test Your Heavy Metal Levels?
Given that lead exposure is cumulative and there is no established safe level, testing is the only way to know where you stand. Our Dried Urine Spot Tests can detect lead and other heavy metals alongside hormone markers, making them a practical choice if you are concerned about both toxic exposure and hormonal health. For a focused heavy metals assessment, visit our Heavy Metals & Elements testing page to find the right test for you.
Takeaway Message
The point of this post is not to scare people away from drinking wine, but to help people make smart choices about ways to reduce lead exposure. Blood lead levels — the standard for monitoring lead exposure — have dropped significantly over the last 50 years as a result of removing lead from gasoline, paint, and plumbing pipes. Some say lead from leaded crystal is harmless due to low exposure, but the reality is that no amount of exposure is safe. In 2016, lead exposure accounted for over 60% of developmental intellectual disability according to the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME). A 2018 study tracking over 14,000 adults showed that nearly 400,000 deaths per year can be attributed to lead exposure — a level 10 times higher than previously estimated. There is no doubt that we are exposed to lead every day, but with knowledge of where that lead is coming from, better decisions can be made that will influence our long-term health and wellbeing.
If you think you have been exposed to too much lead or other heavy metals, there is a simple way to find out. Only a few drops of blood from your fingertip or a urine collection may give you the answer. For more information about dried blood spot and urine tests for lead and other heavy metals, please click here.
Originally by Ted Zava, ZRT Laboratory. Reproduced with permission. Last reviewed: May 2026.