Evaluation of lead, zinc, and copper excretion in chronic moonshine drinkers

To assess the usefulness of various routine and inexpensive tests widely used in the detection of an increased body lead load, the whole blood lead value, the 24-hour urinary excretion of lead, delta-aminolevulinic acid (DALA) and coproporphyrin, the presence of basophilic stippling and the whole blood osmotic fragility test were compared to a 24-hour urinary lead excretion after a calcium disodium edetate (EDTA) mobilization test in 20 chronic moonshine drinkers. Of these tests, only urinary lead excretion after EDTA mobilization was a sensitive indicator of excessive body burden, though a reference value of 650 micrograms urine lead excretion per 24 hours may have excluded some patients with increased lead loads. The reason for increased zinc and copper excretion before and after EDTA mobilization is not known but raises the possibility of their concomitant contamination of moonshine whiskey.