Assessment of Heavy Metal in Raw Meat Sold in Some Notable Garages in Ogun State, South West, Nigeria
MAKANJUOLA1, Olakunle Moses1
Citation : MAKANJUOLA, Olakunle Moses, Assessment of Heavy Metal in Raw Meat Sold in Some Notable Garages in Ogun State, South West, Nigeria International Journal of Research Studies in Biosciences 2016,4(9) : 10-13.
In this work, heavy metals such as Fe, Zn, Cu, Ni, Cd, Pb, Cr, Hg, As and Mn in raw meat sold in some garages in Ogun State, South West, Nigeria were determined using atomic absorption spectrophotometry method. Various concentrations of these metals were obtained after subjecating the results to statistical analysis using SPSS statistical software. The heavy metals evaluated in the investigated samples indicated the following range of concentration: Fe: 3.36-4.81mg/k; Zn: 1.62-3.83mg/kg; Cu: 0.55-1.22mg/kg; Ni: 0.01-0.56mg/kg; Mn: 1.27-1.42mg/kg; Pb: 0.01-0.02mg/kg. Cd had 0.01mg/kg in three of the samples while Cr, Hg and As were undetectable as their concentrations were lower than detection limits. Some samples containing level of Cu and Ni above permissible limits are alarming and therefore should be regularly examined for public health concern. Generally, most of the raw meat samples analyzed are relatively safe and not contaminated by heavy metals.