I can hear the dueling banjos as I read this. From Moonshine Alive, but Not Well, in Atlanta:
“We were under the misconception that moonshine drinking was relatively rare these days, particularly in an urban area,” Dr. Brent Morgan of the Georgia Poison Center, who led the study, said in a statement.Morgan and colleagues started their survey after four adults showing up at Grady Memorial Hospital in Atlanta had potentially fatal lead levels in their blood.
The patients, all of whom said they had recently drunk moonshine, had seizures, a hallmark of lead poisoning, abdominal pain, kidney problems, ulcers, and anemia.
Lead gets into moonshine when certain containers are used to make or store it. Car radiators were once notorious for producing poisonous brew.
“These four patients made us realize that perhaps lead exposure from moonshine was being overlooked in the emergency department,” Morgan said.
His team surveyed 531 people in the Atlanta area, of whom 8.6 percent reported they had tasted moonshine within the past five years.
Might I recommend lead-free solder for assembling a still?