Mind the moonshine

Anybody sippin hooch (as in the illegal stuff) this Thanksgiving be forewarned: The Blue Ridge Poison Center in a previous study found that more than half of illegally brewed moonshine seized by Virginia law enforcement officers contained significant levels of lead.

How does the toxic metal get into the shine?

It leaches in from older homemade lead-soldered stills.

That said, new solder sold these days isn’t leadbased. So be sure the illegal still you’re standing around is a newer model or else wasn’t pieced together with some old lead solder.