Some Heavy Metal Contents of Chicken Meat, Liver, Heart, Veal Liver and Lamb Kidney Sold in Tekirdag, Turkey

Abstract

Meat and offals are important for nutrient in many parts of the world because they provide the well-known trace element contents. Some of them are essential elements in human diet because it is involved in several metabolic reactions. The aim of this study was to determine the levels of heavy metals in meat and some offals in Tekirdag, Turkey. A total of 52 (11 samples of chicken liver, 10 samples of chicken heart, 10 samples of chicken meat, 10 samples of veal liver and 11 samples of lamb kidney) samples were measured and the contents of zinc, manganese, iron, cadmium and lead were determined by atomic absorption spectrophotometer. The arithmetic mean wet weight concentrations in chicken meat, liver, heart, veal liver and lamb kidney, respectively, were 4.394, 4.595, 7.183, 2.259, 6.084 mg/kg for zinc, 0.117, 0.316, 0.454, 0.082, 0.462 mg/kg for manganese, 5.781, 8.935, 17.237, 1.836, 8.375 mg/kg for iron, 0.013, 0.057, 0.707, 0.012, 0.073 mg/kg for cadmium and 0.027, 0.034, 0.018, 0.043, 0.029 mg/kg for lead. The contents of Pb and Cd were within the Turkish Food Codex and Food and Agriculture Organisation limits.