# Is it safe to store liquor in crystal bottles? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 20, 2007, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-safe-to-store-liquor-in-crystal-bottles/408723 "2007-06-20T15:18:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Sattua](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sattua/32/11906_2.png) [@Sattua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sattua)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2007, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-safe-to-store-liquor-in-crystal-bottles/408723/1 "2007-06-20T15:18:40Z")
Things like whisky and bourbon are frequently decanted into elegant cut-crystal bottles and left around dens, living rooms, etc. It looks nice, and is sort of old-fashioned, and is an unnecessary expense, and in general is right up my alley and I’d like to do it. What’s stopping me is \*Home Comforts \* by Cheryl Mendelson, where she says that alcohol leaches the lead out of crystal, and that any alcoholic beverage that has sat in a crystal container for more than an hour isn’t safe to drink. So what’s the dope? Are people giving themselves lead poisoning? Are all decanters lined with regular lead-free glass? Are only some? How can I tell the difference? ---
**Author:** ![Pork\_Rind](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pork_rind/32/111_2.png) [@Pork\_Rind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pork_Rind)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2007, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-safe-to-store-liquor-in-crystal-bottles/408723/2 "2007-06-20T15:42:04Z")
Yeah, I wouldn’t do it. From [here](http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1200/is_n4_v139/ai_9364442) : > [@](#): > > Blum supplied three lead-crystal decanters from home. He and Graziano cleansed each decanter and poured in port. Two days later, they began periodic samplings of the wine. “When we analyzed the first sample, I couldn’t believe it,” Graziano says. Lead showed a steady increase, from an initial level of 89 micrograms of lead per liter to between 2,160 and 5,330 [microgram’/l four months later. > > White wine doubled its lead concentrations within an hour of being poured into one lead-crystal glass, and tripled within four hours, they found. Later in the article, a source from an industry group says… > [@](#): > > According to a statement issued last week by the Lead Industries Association (LIA), the alcohol study suggests “there is negligible risk” from beverages placed in lead-crystal barware “for short periods of time, such as during a meal.” ---
**Author:** ![vetbridge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b5e925/32.png) [@vetbridge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vetbridge)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2007, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-safe-to-store-liquor-in-crystal-bottles/408723/3 "2007-06-20T15:44:23Z")
I don’t understand your question. Store liquor? I have always **purchased** liquor, then **consumed** liquor. ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2007, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-safe-to-store-liquor-in-crystal-bottles/408723/4 "2007-06-20T16:15:33Z")
[QUOTE=vetbridge] I don’t understand your question. Store liquor? I have always **purchased** liquor, then **consumed** liquor. [/QUOTE] Where do you **buy** your liquor, **vetbridge**? Chances are, you purchase it at a **store**. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2007, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-safe-to-store-liquor-in-crystal-bottles/408723/5 "2007-06-20T17:11:34Z")
[QUOTE=vetbridge] I don’t understand your question. Store liquor? [/QUOTE] As opposed to moonshine or bathtub gin. As in “Go ahead and drink your high falootin’ _store_ liquor, I’ll stick with this anti-freeze laden _home_ liquor.” ---
**Author:** ![vetbridge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b5e925/32.png) [@vetbridge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vetbridge)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2007, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-safe-to-store-liquor-in-crystal-bottles/408723/6 "2007-06-20T17:20:13Z")
Ahhhhh, thanks **Squink**. I owe ya. ---
**Author:** ![CynicalGabe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/3e96dc/32.png) [@CynicalGabe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CynicalGabe)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2007, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-safe-to-store-liquor-in-crystal-bottles/408723/7 "2007-06-20T21:24:57Z")
Not around me. I’ll drink it. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Plynck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Plynck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Plynck)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2007, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-safe-to-store-liquor-in-crystal-bottles/408723/8 "2007-06-20T21:37:07Z")
A search turned [this](http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F2061FF6345E0C738EDDAB0894D9494D81&n=Top%2fReference%2fTimes%20Topics%2fOrganizations%2fF%2fFood%20And%20Drug%20Administration%20) up. Unfortunately, I don’t subscribe, so I can’t tell any more than you can read there. It was an article from 1991, and I couldn’t find it on the FDA website.