Heavy Metals and PAHs in Meat, Milk, and Seafood From Augusta Area (Southern Italy): Contamination Levels, Dietary Intake, and Human Exposure Assessment

Abstract

Heavy metals and PAHs were measured in animal foodstuffs from Augusta-Melilli-Priolo area in order to evaluate the potential human health risk associated to their consumption. All heavy metals were detected in seafood products while most of them were 1 for baby, children and teenagers, indicating a non-carcinogenic risk for these age categories by seafood ingestion. The CRAs overcame 1*10−5 for almost age categories (except “baby”) and for elderly, by seafood and beef ingestions respectively. Moreover, the MOE for PAHs showed a certain cancer risk for “baby” related to cow milk ingestion.