Assessment of Heavy Metals in Milk Samples of Cattles and Buffalos from District Quetta

Abstract

Milk is a complete liquid food source since it contains rich amount of protein, fat and major minerals. Presence of trace amount of toxic metals in milk products by any means make it unfit for human consumption. The aim of this study was to evaluate metals in raw milk of buffalos and cows from different farms of district Quetta. Fifty-six whole raw milk samples from cows and buffalos were collected and analyzed using atomic absorption spectroscopy for metal contents. Levels of metals (mean±SD) such as mercury (1.97±0.49 ppm), antimony (0.37±0.08 ppm) and aluminum (0.49±0.33 ppm) exceeded the maximum permissible concentration whereas, all other studied metals including arsenic, lead, iron, sodium, cobalt and chromium were below the recommended standard values of World Health Organization (WHO). Mercury and aluminum contents were comparatively higher in buffalo milk (2.02±0.49 ppm and 0.51±0.32 ppm) than in cow milk (1.91±0.48 ppm and 0.46±0.34 ppm). The contents of antimony were higher in cow milk. The presence of metal contents in milk was greatly influenced by environmental factors, fodder contents used for animal’s nutrition and water used for animal’s water intake use.