Journal of Animal Health and Production

Research Article
J. Anim. Health Prod. 7(1): 5-10
Http://dx.doi.org/10.17582/journal.jahp/2019/7.1.5.10
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Ashwini Kambli1*, Sushant Sole1, Kaustubh Garud2, Snehal Lonare3, Niranjan Bagal4

1Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Bombay Veterinary College, Parel, Mumbai- 400012, India; 2,3,4Animal Sciences, Department of Veterinary nuclear medicine, Bombay Veterinary College, Parel, Mumbai- 400012, India.

Abstract | Presence of heavy metals in milk, particularly the non-essential ones poses a great risk to both animal and human health. Industrialization, construction, vehicle dust, heavy use of pesticides are some of the major pathways through which these metals gain access into the food chain, and eventually into the milk. The present study was conducted to determine the concentration of heavy metals in buffalo milk, owing to its high consumption in the country. Fresh, raw buffalo’s milk samples, total 100 in number were collected from different dairy farms in Mumbai suburbs. After collection, the sample were immediately kept in the freezer (-20˚C) and later processed by acid digestion method using 65% HNO3 and HClO4. Using Atomic Emission Spectrophotometry (ICP-AES), concentration of As (Arsenic), Hg (Mercury), Pb (Lead) and Cd (Cadmium) were evaluated. The results showed high levels of lead and mercury in Borivali (p<0.05)and Bhiwandi (p<0.01) region respectively. The positive values confirm presence of these toxic metals in the surrounding environment. However, no significant levels (p>0.05) of these metals were found in the water which is considered as the most common source of exposure. Also, no correlation was found between levels of heavy metals and its effect on milk yield. These results demonstrated that milk produced in the vicinity of Mumbai is contaminated with heavy metals lead and mercury; moreover environmental pollution could be a potential source of heavy metal contamination in raw milk.

Keywords | Heavy metals, Buffalo Milk, Mumbai suburbs, ICP-AES, Metal toxicity, Metals in milk