Contamination of heavy metals in poultry eggs: a study presenting relation between heavy metals in feed intake and eggs

Abstract

This study aims to quantify heavy metals (Ni, Pb, Zn, Mn, Cr, Cu and Se) in eggs obtained from poultry farms and backyard raised hens by comparing the concentration of metals in their feed intake. Overall, 90 samples of egg and 12 samples of poultry feed (6 each with food and water) were collected from 3 different poultry farms and backyards located in peri-urban areas of Lahore. A di-acid digestion method was adopted for digestion, after which digested samples were analyzed under atomic absorption spectrophotometer. Results showed that the concentration of Pb, Cr and Se in egg white (Pb = 0.6578, Cr = 0.18 and Se = 0.2161), egg yolk (Pb = 0.7011, Cr = 0.2617 and Se = 0.2656), feed (Pb = 2.585, Cr = 1.3039 and Se = 0.9411) and water (Pb = 0.5483, Cr = 0.1006 and Se = 0.3461) were above permissible limits in both poultry farms (study group 1) and backyards (study group 2). The concentration of metals such as Pb, Mn, Cr, Cu and Se in poultry farms eggs were higher than backyard hen eggs, which may be due to the intake of contaminated feed. So, the current study concluded that the higher concentration of metals in eggs has a positive correlation with the intake of feed contaminated with heavy metals.

Keywords:

• Feed intake
• heavy metals
• poultry eggs

Conflict of interest disclosure

The authors have no conflicts of interest to report. The authors confirm that the research presented in this article met the ethical guidelines, including adherence to the legal requirements, of [country name] and received approval from the [Institutional Review Board of university name].