Determination of Lead and Cadmium in Different Types of Milk Samples Collected from Different Markets in Benghazi-Libya

Abstract

Milk and its products are the most consumed food by humans, especially children, so it is important to investigate the extent of the toxic heavy metals and determine their concentrations in milk samples. In this study, seventy-eight random samples of milk powder, infant milk, evaporated milk, and sterilized milk was collected from different markets during 2015-2016 in Benghazi city, Libya. In all milk samples, cadmium and lead metals were determined using Graphite Furnace Atomic Absorption Spectrometer (GFAAS), after the wet digestion process. The analyzed data revealed that the mean values in the examined milk powder, infant milk, evaporated milk, sterilized milk, samples were 0.006, 0.006, 0.001, 0.0001, 0.0002, and 0.0003 mg/kg of cadmium, respectively and 0.36, 0.39, 0.03, 0.01, 0.01 and 0.01 mg/kg of lead, respectively. The mean concentration of cadmium metal in milk samples was below the maximum limit permitted by WHO/FAO. While the mean concentration of lead in examined milk samples exceeded the permissible limits set by WHO/FAO (0.02 ppm) in milk powder and infant milk. In evaporated milk samples, the mean concentrations of lead were nearly similar to WHO/FAO permissible limits. While the sterilized milk samples have mean concentration of lead below the recommended permissible limits by the WHO/FAO