Lead poisoning in cattle associated to batteries recycling: high lead levels in milk of nonsymptomatic exposed cattle

Lead poisoning associated to residuals of batteries recycling was diagnosed in a small herd of Holstein cattle. In this outbreak, 10 animals showed clinical signs of lead poisoning, 5 dead and others saved after chelating therapy with CaNa2EDTA.Mean blood lead level of clinically intoxicated cattle was 0.624 ± 0.388ppm and the levels varied between 0.320 and 1.300 ppm. Blood and milk lead levels of 9 exposed but unaffected cattle ranged 0.250 to 0.590 and 0.060 to 0.290 ppm respectively. Although blood and milk lead levels of those cattle sharply decreased after removal of lead source, some of them showed higher than acceptable levels when samples analyzed 60 days later.Products of all lead exposed cattle may not be safe for human consumption for several weeks and analysis should be performed to ensure their safety.