Concentration of mineral and heavy metals in raw mare (horse) milk consumed in Yazd, Iran: A risk assessment study.
Abstract: In recent years, the mare's milk has been introduced as a rich source of nutrients with hypoallergic characteristics which is widely used for Iranian infants. The present study aimed to investigate the heavy metal concentration of mare's milk and its consumption risk assessment. About 88 mare's milk was collected from Yazd, the centre of Iran, during the summer of 2020. The raw mare's milk was digested and analysed for mineral and heavy metal content (As, Ca, Cd, Co, Cu, Fe, Mg, Mn, Ni, P, Pb and Zn) by ICP-OES. To estimate the health hazard for consumers the Estimated Daily Intake (EDI), Hazard Quotient (HQ) and Hazard Index (HI) of heavy metals were determined. The Ca ranged from 260.52 to 201.43 mg/L, which was the highest mineral in mare's milk followed by P and Mg. By increasing the age, P and Ca content was increased. The obtained ranges of Cu, Co, Fe, Mn and Zn were 72.12-75.11, 1.12-9.3, 180.69-230.21, 31.24-47.13 and 1060-1200 μg/L, respectively. The Cd and Arsenic content of mares' 8-11 years of age had higher concentrations. The highest Pb content was reported in mares 4-7 years old (10 μg/L). Although, Pb, Cd and As content of the mare's milk was evaluated lower than the permissible limit. Also, the HQ value was As > Cd > Pb > Zn > Ni > Cu for infants, toddlers and adults. The HI of mare's milk was 0.16, 0.15 and 0.022 for infants, toddlers and adults, respectively. Mare's milk could be an effective nutrition source for infants and children suffering from milk protein allergies.
© 2023 The Authors. Veterinary Medicine and Science published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
Publication Date: 2023-04-17 PubMed ID: 37067509PubMed Central: PMC10357269DOI: 10.1002/vms3.1138Google Scholar: Lookup
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Summary
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The research investigated concentration levels of various minerals and heavy metals in mare’s milk consumed in Yazd, Iran, and assessed potential risks associated with these levels. It concludes that despite containing some potentially harmful elements, the levels are within safe limits, and hazards are low, making mare’s milk a beneficial food source, especially for infants and children with milk protein allergies.
Methodology
- The researchers collected 88 samples of mare’s milk from Yazd in Iran during summer 2020.
- The milk was then prepared and analyzed for various mineral and heavy metal content, specifically arsenic (As), calcium (Ca), cadmium (Cd), cobalt (Co), copper (Cu), iron (Fe), magnesium (Mg), manganese (Mn), nickel (Ni), phosphorus (P), lead (Pb), and zinc (Zn) with a technique known as Inductively Coupled Plasma Optical Emission Spectroscopy (ICP-OES).
- The health risk of consuming the milk was estimated by calculating the daily intake (EDI), Hazard Quotient (HQ) and Hazard Index (HI) of these heavy metals.
Findings
- The highest mineral found in the mare’s milk was calcium (Ca), with ranges between 260.52 to 201.43 mg/L. This was followed by P (phosphorus) and Mg (magnesium).
- Trace metal content including Cu (copper), Co (cobalt), Fe (iron), Mn (manganese) and Zn (zinc) showed certain ranges of quantity.
- The study also found that the content of certain elements such as P and Ca increased with the mare’s age and that 8-11-year-old mares had higher concentrations of harmful elements like Cd (cadmium) and Arsenic (As).
- The lead (Pb) content was found to be highest in mares that were between 4-7 years old.
Hazard Assessment
- Although some samples contained harmful metals like Pb, Cd and As, the content was lower than the permissible limit set for them, suggesting the consumption of mare’s milk is safe.
- When the Hazard Quotient (HQ) was compared for different heavy metals amongst different age groups, the value was found to be highest for arsenic (As) and lowest for copper (Cu) in all cases.
- The Hazard Index (HI) calculated for mare’s milk was found to be 0.16, 0.15 and 0.022 for infants, toddlers and adults respectively, indicating a lower hazard level especially for adults.
- The study concludes by suggesting that mare’s milk could be a useful nutritional source for infants and children with milk protein allergies.
Cite This Article
APA
Alipour A, Akrami Mohajeri F, Javdan G, Pourramezani F, Fallahzadeh H, Khalili Sadrabad E.
(2023).
Concentration of mineral and heavy metals in raw mare (horse) milk consumed in Yazd, Iran: A risk assessment study.
Vet Med Sci, 9(4), 1592-1598.
https://doi.org/10.1002/vms3.1138 Publication
Researcher Affiliations
- Department of Food Hygiene and Safety, School of Public Health, Shahid Sadoughi University of Medical Sciences, Yazd, Iran.
- Infectious Diseases Research Center, Shahid Sadoughi Hospital, Shahid Sadoughi University of Medical Sciences, Yazd, Iran.
- Department of Food Hygiene and Safety, School of Public Health, Shahid Sadoughi University of Medical Sciences, Yazd, Iran.
- Infectious Diseases Research Center, Shahid Sadoughi Hospital, Shahid Sadoughi University of Medical Sciences, Yazd, Iran.
- Food Health Research Center, Hormozgan University of Medical Sciences, Bandar Abbas, Iran.
- Food Health Research Center, Hormozgan University of Medical Sciences, Bandar Abbas, Iran.
- Department of Biostatistics and Epidemiology, Center for Healthcare Data Modeling, School of Public Health, Shahid Sadoughi University of Medical Sciences, Yazd, Iran.
- Department of Food Hygiene and Safety, School of Public Health, Shahid Sadoughi University of Medical Sciences, Yazd, Iran.
- Infectious Diseases Research Center, Shahid Sadoughi Hospital, Shahid Sadoughi University of Medical Sciences, Yazd, Iran.
- Nutrition and Food Security Research Center, School of Public Health, Shahid Sadoughi University of Medical Sciences, Yazd, Iran.
MeSH Terms
- Horses
- Animals
- Female
- Iran
- Cadmium / analysis
- Lead
- Metals, Heavy / analysis
- Minerals / analysis
- Risk Assessment
Conflict of Interest Statement
All authors declare no conflict of interest.
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Citations
This article has been cited 3 times.- Shokrollahi B, Choi JY, Won M, Kim ET, Lee SE, Ham JS. Koumiss (Fermented Mare's Milk) as a Functional Food: Bioactive Proteins, Peptides, and Future Perspectives. Foods 2025 Nov 18;14(22).
- Ansari F, Askari E, Naderi Boroujeni H, Jahanara M, Forootani B, Khalili Sadrabad E. Determination of Aflatoxin M(1), Organochlorine Pesticides, and Heavy Metals in Raw Milk of Iran. Food Sci Nutr 2025 Nov;13(11):e71135.
- Utama AH, Awwaly KUA, Radiati LE. The effectiveness of Sumbawa fermented mare's milk powder with gum arabic [Acacia senegal (L.) Willd] microencapsulant as a modified traditional healthy food. J Adv Vet Anim Res 2025 Jun;12(2):610-620.
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