Occupational Health Concerns

[Max Action]

I hope this isn't a taboo topic, but is anyone here concerned about the increased risks of oral and throat cancer from distilled spirits? I would imagine someone that's continually sampling their products would want to be vigilant about keeping regular check-ups at the Dr office. Any other special precautions?

[Spirits Review]

Metabolic and liver blood work every so often.

Although I have learned you have to study for these tests.

As a professional spirits judge I once had to do 150 spirits in 3 days and had the blood draw the next day not thinking about it-the results weren't pretty. Luckily my Doctor tore up the test results and told me to come back in 2 weeks - then it was fine.

[doubleD]

I hope this isn't a taboo topic, but is anyone here concerned about the increased risks of oral and throat cancer from distilled spirits? I would imagine someone that's continually sampling their products would want to be vigilant about keeping regular check-ups at the Dr office. Any other special precautions?

Here's my 2 cents as a distiller and a MD. Heavy alcohol consumption, especially spirits, is linked to cancer of the esophagus and oral cavity. This is seen mainly in HEAVY alcoholics, not craft spirits tasters. Any alcohol you consume is metabolized by the ctyochrome p450 enzymatic system in your liver (same one used by Tylenol, so don't consume them together). Alcohol is a poison. If you consume a large volume you oustrip temporary capcity of the enzymes and get liver damage. In the short term this will be reflected by an increase in liver enzyme markers, mainly ALT. However, the liver has unbelievable regenerative capacity. Your can remove ~75% of someone's liver, and they should be able to regenerate enough capacity to have normal function. So how much is safe to drink? No one can tell you for sure, but studies have shown enzyme markers usually remain normal if you drink 2-3 drinks per day total (14-21/week). Personally, as a whiskeyphile and product taster, I have no worries about the volume of etoh I'm consuming, which by the way, is less than I remember drinking during highschool in the 80s.

[Palmetto Coast]

"Personally, as a whiskeyphile and product taster, I have no worries about the volume of etoh I'm consuming, which by the way, is less than I remember drinking during highschool in the 80s."

Did we go to high school together?

[Valley Spirits Lee]

Seriously?

Everything causes cancer in someone, just look it up.

Do you know what's in the water!! Stop drinking water now!!!!

Please don't try to take my drink. I don't drink much but I do enjoy it.

J.K.

Lee

[Dana]

I hope this isn't a taboo topic, but is anyone here concerned about the increased risks of oral and throat cancer from distilled spirits? I would imagine someone that's continually sampling their products would want to be vigilant about keeping regular check-ups at the Dr office. Any other special precautions?

Personally, I am usually more concerned about burns and sanitizer to the eyes than I am about the long term affects of product tasting. I believe Willy Nelson once said: "I know a lot more old drunks than old Doctors." Also, so long as you are not consuming large quantities of the heads and tails, you should do fine in regards to the not-quite-so-go-for-you compounds like methanol and the higher volatiles.The only major issue I have run into was a few bad mashes where acrolyne, used as a tear gas in WWI, was produced. Running the mash through the stills caused it to volatilize and it was pretty unpleasant. I spent the night in the hospital on a nebulizer thanks to that mash.

Take it easy,

Dana

[Max Action]

This is seen mainly in HEAVY alcoholics, not craft spirits tasters...

Do you have any evidence that these risks are not seen in craft spirits tasters, or is this your own theory?

What got me thinking about the oral/throat risks was an article I saw about the unusually high rates of oral cancer in the Calvados region of France, and then a second article from Australia that showed a risk from daily use of mouthwash.

[Max Action]

Personally, I am usually more concerned about burns and sanitizer to the eyes than I am about the long term affects of product tasting.

Of course that's a good point that there are plenty of other hazards out there that have a higher chance of causing harm, and you can't worry about all of them.

[cowdery]

Precautions are taken when drinking or even nosing spirits, not specifically because of cancer, but because the senses of taste and smell can be damaged, temporarily or permanently.

At every American whiskey distillery, for example, every barrel of aged whiskey is nosed before it is dumped. The tester uses a thief to extract a sample and adds an equal amount of water before nosing it. That means the spirit they're nosing is probably between 55 and 70% ABV. They're nosing only, not drinking. They also work short shifts, like four hours, and have some other duty for the rest of the work day.

I recently learned that professional blenders typically work with samples diluted to 20% ABV. They are both nosing and tasting. Distillery tasting panel taster also typically taste at 20-30% ABV.

Mostly when someone is tasting something right off the still at full proof, they're doing it for fun. You don't need to do that as a practical matter and most people don't. They certainly don't do it over and over again, day after day, because that's a bad idea on many different levels.

I'm not a distiller but I know the practices the big boys follow. I know a lot of micro-distillers are operating by the seat of their pants and learning as they go, but if anyone is sniffing or sipping a lot of high proof spirits day in and day out, well, they probably shouldn't do that.

But I don't believe many are.