Health risk assessment of lead, cadmium, and copper in meat and liver from local and imported sheep in Basra, southern Iraq
Keywords:
Heavy metal Estimated daily intake (EDI) Health hazards THQ Hazard index HI.Abstract
Three hundred samples of thigh meat and livers from local sheep (from both official and random slaughter) and imported Australian thighs were gathered in Basra city throughout the summer and winter seasons. The findings indicated an elevation in the mean concentrations of all examined components in the random slaughter source. The highest average concentration of lead was in the random slaughter source of thigh and liver in summer (1.38±0.404 and 2.2±0.71) mg/kg respectively. While in winter (1.55±0.43 and 2.06±0.6) mg/kg respectively.and, the highest average concentration of cadmium was for the randomly selected thigh and liver sources were 0.144 ± 0.06 and 0.19 ± 0.08 mg/kg, respectively. In the winter, it was 0.101 ± 0.06 mg/kg while in the summer, it was 0.16 ± 0.062 mg/kg. The copper concentration in the official slaughter source of thigh and liver during summer was (3.65 ± 10.92 and 27.883 ± 109.59) mg/kg, respectively. As for winter, it was (14.02 ± 16.57 and 32.003 ± 96.71) mg/kg, respectively. In contrast, The highest average concentration of copper was recorded for the random slaughter source during the summer (17.008± 31.13 and 51.963± 118.17) mg/kg, respectively. While during the winter, it reached (10.262± 16.494 and 42.101± 122.28) mg/kg, respectively. We computed the EDI of nutrients and compared it to the TDI, the THQ, and the HI for thigh lamb, as well as the risk quotient and risk index, respectively. Both adults and children had EDI values that were more than TDI, and THQ values that were lower than 1.0 (<1). That is, there are slight health risks that are not significant for adults, but they are almost significant for children. The HI values were less than 1.0 (<1) for adults. That is, the non-carcinogenic health risks are very small. However, the HI for children was greater than 1.0 (≥1), so there is a possibility of non-carcinogenic adverse health effects after consuming lamb meat
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