Determination of Heavy and Mineral Metals in Raw Milk Produced from Livestock in Khatoon-Abad, Shahr-e-Babak, Kerman

The contamination of milk and its products with heavy metals causes toxic and harmful effects on human health. The purpose of this study was to measure the levels of Pb, As, Zn, Cu, Co, Ni, Cr, Mn, and Mg in raw milk produced from livestock around the Khatoon-Abad Copper Smelter in Shahr-e-Babak, Kerman.

Samples of raw milk were collected from 10 nomadic settlements in Khatoon-Abad district, Shahr-e-Babak, in the spring of 2015. After digestion of 10 samples of milk with concentrated nitric acid, a total of 90 experiments were conducted using Atomic Absorption Spectrometry to determine the levels of the above-mentioned heavy metals. Data were analyzed using SPSS 16.

The average concentration of Mg, Zn, Cu, and Ni was 15.66±3.06, 1.53± 0.67, 0.47±0.11, and 1.95±0.54 mg/kg, respectively. The levels of Pb, As, Co, Cr, and Mn were not measurable by, in any sample.

The amounts of metals measured in the present study, except Ni, were within the ranges of the global standards (FAO/WHO and Codex 2007).