The Concentration of Zinc, Lead, Cadmium and Copper in Raw
Milk Production in Industrial Farms in Khorramabad, Iran
Mohsen Tizhoosh 1 + and Hamid R. Tizhoosh 2
۱ Faculty of Science, Department of Environment, Azad University of Hamedan, Iran
2 Centre for Bioengineering and Biotechnology, University of Waterloo, Canada
Abstract
Given the importance of public health and the role of food safety in this regard, investigating the
quality of the food used in the human diet appears to be a crucial task. Milk does play a major role in the nutrition and health of people from children to adults. In this study, we examined the concentration of heavy metals, including zinc, lead, cadmium and copper in raw milk produced by the dairy industry Khorramabad, Iran. For this purpose, after field studies and identifying sampling sites in the area, eight sampling sites were chosen. Three samples were then taken at each site resulting in a total of 24 samples of raw milk. These samples were then tested in the laboratory with respect to the acid digestion of the samples according to standard methods. Subsequently, using atomic emission spectroscopy, the concentrations of heavy metals were measure.The SPSS software was used for statistical analysis of the results The results showed that average concentrations (in milligrams per litre) were 3.07 (zinc), 2.72 (lead), 0.1 (cadmium) and
0.14 (copper)The results of comparing the average concentrations measured with WHO guidelines represent a statistically significant difference (p < 0.05) indicating that the average con- centration of each element in the sample studied is higher than WHO recommendations mainly due to the release of heavy metals through animal feed and drinking water. As a result, regulating the animal feed seems to be necessary to prevent the release of heavy metals in dairy and obviously into human food chain
Keywords: heavy metals, raw milk, food security, industry farming, lorestan, khorramabad, Iran