Assessment of heavy metals (Cd, Pb and Zn)‎ contents in livers of chicken available in the local markets of Basrah City, Iraq

الملخص EN

This study was conducted to determine the concentration of Cd, Pb and Zn (using Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometer ASS) in nine brands of chicken livers : (Keyf-i Gezzet, Al Murad, Al Kafeel, Sadia 2, Sadia 1, Karbala, Halal, Faqeeh, in addition to livers of locally breed chicken), which are widely consumed from the local markets of Basrah city.

The levels of metals in the chicken livers were ranged between (0.004) μg / g and (0.124) μg / g for Cd ; (0.171) μg / g and (3.269) μg / g for Pb ; and (4.116) μg / g and (3.266) μg / g for Zn.

The results showed that concentration of Pb in four brands exceeded the permissible limits set by WHO / FAO (1) and ANZFA (2).

The concentrations of Cd and Zn in all samples were within the tolerance limits.