Concentrations of cadmium, lead and zinc in livestock feed and organs around a metal production centre in eastern Kazakhstan.
Abstract: This paper presents results of analysis of animal feed and meat (cattle, horse and sheep) products from a metal processing region (Oskemen) in east Kazakhstan. Samples were collected from a range of districts of differing distances from the main source of anthropogenic pollution and with differing underlying metal-containing geologies. Analyses for cadmium, lead and zinc revealed high concentrations in many feed and meat samples. Horse (an important food animal) samples had higher levels of contamination than cattle, which were higher than sheep. For example, mean cadmium concentrations in horse kidneys in one district were found to be 128 mg/kg and lead concentrations for liver 2.2 mg/kg. These, and other, results are generally higher than reported in many other studies in contaminated regions of eastern Europe and they can exceed State Maximal Allowed Concentrations by many times. As such levels of contamination pose a significant potential risk to human health, these results have formed the basis for subsequent research on levels of metal contamination in human tissues from affected populations.
Publication Date: 2000-08-16 PubMed ID: 10943902DOI: 10.1016/s0048-9697(00)00497-6Google Scholar: Lookup
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- Journal Article
Summary
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This study analyzed the levels of cadmium, lead and zinc in animal feed and meat (specifically cattle, horse, and sheep) in east Kazakhstan, around a metal production center. It found high contamination levels, with horse products showing the highest concentrations. The high levels of metal contamination pose a potential risk to human health.
Research Context
- The research was conducted in east Kazakhstan, specifically in Oskemen, a metal processing region. The study was motivated by growing concerns over the levels of human exposure to heavy metals produced by the metal processing activities.
- The core objective of the study was to determine the concentrations of cadmium, lead, and zinc in livestock feed and animal products and to understand the potential health risk they pose to humans.
Sample Collection and Analysis
- Samples of animal feed and meat products were collected from various districts around the metal production center. Distances of these districts from the center, and different metal-containing geologies were considered to provide a broad scope of samples.
- The research studied levels of cadmium, lead, and zinc, three metals that can have detrimental effects on health if consumed excessively.
Findings
- The analysis revealed high concentrations of cadmium, lead, and zinc in both the animal feed and the meat products tested.
- Horses, an important source of food in the region, exhibited higher levels of contamination than other animals such as cattle and sheep.
- Some of the recorded concentrations were extremely high: for example, horse kidneys from one district showed a mean cadmium concentration of 128 mg/kg, and liver samples showed lead concentrations of 2.2 mg/kg.
Implications
- These findings suggest that the region’s animal products may be unsafe for human consumption, as the detected heavy metal concentrations were significantly higher than those reported in other contaminated regions within Eastern Europe.
- The high levels of heavy metals in the tested samples even exceed the State’s Maximal Allowed Concentrations (MACs) in some cases.
- These alarming results have formed the baseline for further research into metal contamination in human tissues within the affected populations.
Cite This Article
APA
Farmer AA, Farmer AM.
(2000).
Concentrations of cadmium, lead and zinc in livestock feed and organs around a metal production centre in eastern Kazakhstan.
Sci Total Environ, 257(1), 53-60.
https://doi.org/10.1016/s0048-9697(00)00497-6 Publication
Researcher Affiliations
- Tri.Stan, Orton Goldhay, Peterborough, UK. almafarmer@ukonline.co.uk
MeSH Terms
- Animal Feed
- Animals
- Cadmium / analysis
- Cattle
- Environmental Pollutants / analysis
- Food Chain
- Horses
- Kazakhstan
- Lead / analysis
- Meat Products / analysis
- Plants / chemistry
- Sheep
- Zinc / analysis
Citations
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