MERCURY CONTENTS OF ANIMAL FEEDSTUFFS IN AUSTRIA

For reasons of health and sanitary control, 327 samples of various fee dstuffs utilized in Austria, were investigated over a period from Janu ary to October 1996 for their Hg contents. As a method, combustion in oxygen, amalgamation, and atomic absorption measurement was used withi n a closed system. As the only manipulation was weighing the sample, l ow blanks of the entire procedure and sufficient sensitivity enabled u s to achieve detection limits of 0,01 ng absolute. The validity was ch ecked by international standard reference materials, and the precision of the method within the range 1-10 mu g/kg was +/- 7.6%. Most sample s contained 0,2-10 mu g/kg Hg. In comparison with data from crops and vegetables from the Netherlands, distributed among various labs within the international plant exchange program to improve the quality of tr ace analytical results, the Hg-contents utilized for animal farming in Austria was at a significantly lower level. Generally, feed for pigs was at a higher Hg-level than feed for cattle and horses, for poultry it was intermediate. Correlation and factor analysis between Hg conten ts and the components of the feed mixture clearly revealed processed f ish as a significant source for Hg, whereas the total contents of Cu, Zn, and P was of no influence. This is in accordance with earlier stud ies of humans and animals of high fish consumption, which has been out lined within a brief review about occurrence and metabolic pathways of Hg in animals.