The levels of some heavy metals in fresh cow milk obtained from ranched and unranched cows from Yola Area, Adamawa State

Abstract

The analysis of the residual contents of heavy and toxic metals in foodstuffs, especially milk, could be an important indicator of the safety, quality, and level of pollution in the region in which the milk was produced. Therefore, the present investigation was carried out to assess the occurrence of some selected heavy metals (Ni, Cd, Cr, Cu, Co, Fe, and Zn) in fresh cow milk obtained from ranched and unranched cows from Yola North, Adamawa State. Fifty healthy lactating cows were randomly selected from ranched and unranched locations in a designated region. Veterinary professionals were called to help verify the health status of the animals. Samples were kept cool and assigned codes to prevent spoilage during transit to a central laboratory. After the samples were prepared and worked on in the laboratory. The atomic absorption spectrophotometry was used to measure the amount of metal present after the wet digestion of the sample with acid. The ranges of the heavy metals' concentrations (Ni, Zn, Fe, Cr, Mn, and Cd) in the milk samples from the three locations were 0.13–0.91, 0.73–2.20, 0.20–0.70, 0.10–0.75, 0.10–0.55, and 0.004–0.042 mg/L, respectively. Co was not detected in the cow's milk from any of the three locations. The study found that the cows raised on ranches produced milk with reduced levels of heavy metals compared to those not raised on ranches. Thus, improving milk safety and preserving public health requires the adoption of controlled feeding systems and the monitoring of environmental variables.