Distribution levels of lead and cadmium within various fresh meat tissues of beef, goat and lamb and their consumption risk assessment

Meat is widely considered to be a good source of protein, vitamins and minerals such as iron, selenium, zinc, vitamin B. Besides consuming meat muscle tissues, it is well known that in the Mediterranean area certain populations also consume other meat tissues as the bone marrow, fats, and what is known as “Fashi” or “Ma’alak” which contains the kidneys, spleen, liver, heart, and lungs. In addition, muscle, liver and kidney tissues of such organisms are widely consumed raw, without any further processing. The risk arises from the fact that such meat products are obtained from organisms which in turn have accumulated toxic metals in their tissues. Therefore, levels of lead (Pb) and cadmium (Cd) from various fresh meat tissues of beef, goat and lamb have been determined in Lebanon for the first time. Their interand intra-levels distribution were assessed and compared. Their potential exposure risk from dietary intake was also studied. A total of two hundred and forty (n=240) samples of fresh meat tissues (80 beef, 80 goat and 80 lamb) were collected over a period of several months from various slaughter houses. From each type of organism, five samples of nclusion tissues (heart, liver, fat, muscle, lung, kidney, bone marrow and spleen) were taken. Each individual sample was then subdivided into subsamples for subsequent analysis and quality control purposes. High-pressure closed vessel acid-assisted microwave digestion was used to digest all samples while graphite furnace atomic absorption spectroscopy was used for the quantification of the toxic metals. The data showed that the mean levels of Pb in goats ranged from 2.66 to 69.84 μg/Kg for the various tissues studied. In beef, they ranged from 0.50 to 41.34 μg/Kg. While in lamb, levels ranged from 1.59 to 95.95 μg/Kg. Meanwhile, the levels for Cd ranged from 2.39 to 635.86 μg/Kg for goat, 0.55 to 173.72 μg/Kg for beef, and 1.37 to 688.95 μg/Kg for lamb. Based on the interwww.witpress.com, ISSN 1743-3541 (on-line) WIT Transactions on Ecology and The Environment, Vol 203, © 2016 WIT Press doi:10.2495/EID160101 This paper is part of the Proceedings of the 3 International Conference rd on Environmental and Economic Impact on Sustainable Development (EID 2016) www.witconferences.com