Determination of Heavy Metals in Selected Tissues and Organs of Cattle from Central Abattoir in Ado-Ekiti, Akure and Owena
Daniel Uwaremhevho Momodu *
Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Federal University Oye-Ekiti, Ekiti State, Nigeria.
Adedayo Olamide Oyebanji
Deparment of Chemical Sciences, Joseph Ayo babalola University, Ikeji-Arakeji, Osun State, Nigeria.
*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Abstract
This study was to determine the concentrations of lead (Pb), cadmium (Cd) and zinc (Zn) in the organs (liver, kidney and heart) and tissues (intestine and blood) of slaughtered cattle using spectroscopy method based on comparison with standards. The results obtained for these heavy metals have values that ranged from 0.00±0.00 to 7.33±5.01mg/kg for Pb, 0.00±0.00 to 0.50±0.50 mg/kg for Cd and 0.00±0.00 to 51.67±10.54 mg/kg for Zn. Generally, Zn was found to be present at the higher significant levels in the liver, heart, kidney and intestine. It was also found that there was no detection for Zn in the blood. Pb was found relatively high than the standard permissible limit by FAO/WHO [1] in the tissues. Cd was found to be present at the lowest concentration level. Hence, the concentrations of all the heavy metals were within the tolerance limits with the exception of Pb.
Keywords: Heavy metals, lead, cadmium, zinc, tissues and organ.