Some toxic elements in liver, kidney and meat from calves slaughtered in Asturias (Northern Spain)

Asturias is a region in Northern Spain that contains a large coal-mining and industrial area. In addition to this, in the past this region had important mercury-mining activities that caused the dispersion of heavy metals and the semimetal arsenic into the environment. Grazing cattle were exposed to the contamination and were an important source of food for humans. Thus, the aim of this study has been to investigate the levels of certain metals in calves raised in Asturias and to compare them with the levels reported in other studies and with the maximum tolerance levels in products for human consumption. Lead, mercury and arsenic concentrations in the liver, kidney and meat from 312 calves aged 6-12 months were collected from the whole region. The average wet weight concentrations in liver, kidney and meat respectively were 34.5, 34.6, 11.1 mug/kg for lead, 1.67, 8.10, 0.475 mug/kg for mercury and 49.6, 66.3, 4.46 mug/kg for arsenic. Metal concentrations in calves were generally low in Asturias and similar to those reported in unpolluted areas of Europe, Australia, USA and Canada, and much lower (10-20 times) than those reported in other polluted areas. Concentrations of these metals in Asturian calves rarely exceeded the maximum tolerance levels in products for human consumption.