CRISA Glass Carboys - Are they safe to use?

MT_Keg · Jan 4, 2020

I acquired 2 CRISA carboys from my parents; they used them to make cordials.

I am not concerned about their structural integrity; these are pretty thick and heavy. I am concerned about the chemical composition; is it possible that the glass has lead in it? I am not sure what year they were made but they appear to be tinted blue.

One is labeled with "eagle spring water company" and the other is unlabeled.

Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated!

MT

cmason1957 · Jan 4, 2020

I did one of those quick Google searches and didn't see anyone else saying there was a lead issue with these carboys. I did see a few folks say they may be slight more prone to breakage, but who knows.

1d10t · Jan 4, 2020

Maybe your parents leached out all the lead?

MT_Keg · Jan 5, 2020

cmason1957 said:
I did one of those quick Google searches and didn't see anyone else saying there was a lead issue with these carboys. I did see a few folks say they may be slight more prone to breakage, but who knows.

Yeah, I did a search; I didn't come up with anything on the lead subject but figured I would poll the community. Thanks for your help!

1d10t said:
Maybe your parents leached out all the lead?

Quite possibly [emoji39]. They made pretty large quantities of cordials; at one point to they had 4 of these going.

richmke · Jan 5, 2020

Lead is used to make the glass clear (think crystal glasses). Cobalt is used to tint glass blue. Lots of blue wine bottles out there, so should be safe.

CDrew · Jan 5, 2020

I'm sure they are totally unsafe. Please package carefully and I'll send you my address!

Actually, I just love the old stuff like this. You should use and enjoy, remembering your parents as you do. Very cool things to have.

stickman · Jan 5, 2020

The manufacturer was Vitrocrisa, the parent company Vitro, S.A. de C.V. has been in the glass business for many years, this includes food and beverage bottles, liquor bottles etc. They were well aware of food and liquor container requirements, so I wouldn't have any problem using the carboys. I still have two from this manufacturer that were purchased in the 90's. The company was sold to Libbey around 2006 which seems to be when the carboy production stopped.

MT_Keg · Jan 5, 2020

I talked to my parents this afternoon and apparently these carboys were used by my italian greatgrandma to make wine. Based on the feedback here and their prior uses I will use them in my brewing and wine process after a some cleaning with PBW. Thanks everyone!