CONTENTS OF A SELECTION OF TRACE-ELEMENTS IN LIVER AND KIDNEY SAMPLESFROM FARMED ANIMALS

Livers and kidneys of farmed animals were frozen immediately after sla ughtering, homogenized, and some toxic and essential trace elements (P b, Cd, As, Hg, Cu, Zn) determined on dry weight basis. They were regar ded as target organs for contamination from feedstuffs and the environ ment, as well as for indication of adequate load with essential trace elements Cu and Zn. The Pb and As levels were partially below detectio n limits, and also Hg levels were low. Compared with literature data, hardly contaminations with Pb, As, or Hg were detected. No hints were found for Hg contaminations, like from feeding with processed fish. Wi th respect to human nutrition, the respective load of Pb, As and Hg fr om vegetarian food would be higher than from inner organs. Compared wi th other sources of food, Cd, Zn and Cu was accumulated, however. With respect to data from animals farmed in other countries, free living a nimals or men, top values were not found, but steady intake of inner o rgans would significantly contribute to the load of Cd, Cu and Zn of h uman nutrition. Whereas elevated levels of Cu and Zn could be valuable for rather low supplied men, high Cd levels, especially in bovine kid neys, are of concern. Interrelations among the 6 trace elements determ ined within the same samples showed rather more correlations among the toxicants. In spite of simultaneous supplementation of Cu and Zn, sig nificant correlation was only found for poultry liver.