THE INFLUENCE OF ENVIRONMENTAL CONTAMINATION ON HEAVY METALS AND ORGANOCHLORINE COMPOUNDS LEVELS IN MILK

Due to the growing of environmental pollution with heavy metals and organochlorine compounds it is necessary to determine the levels of these contaminants in milk due to the possible risk on human population. This paper reports the concentrations of heavy metals (Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Ni, Pb and Zn) and organochlorine compounds (polychlorinated bipenyls and organochlorine pesticides) in raw, pasteurized milk and infant formula samples collected in Cluj-Napoca, NW Romania. The analytical methods consist of liquid-liquid extraction and capillary gas chromatography with electron-capture detection (GC-ECD) for determination of organochlorine compounds and microwave acid digestion followed by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) for determination of heavy metals. The obtained results showed that the lowest mean concentrations were determined in infant formula samples. The organochlorine compounds obtained at the highest mean concentrations were alpha-HCH, 4,4'-DDE and PCB28.