Is the milk we drink safe from elevated concentrations of prioritised heavy metals/metalloids? - A global systematic review and meta-analysis followed by a cursory risk assessment reporting.

Autor: Hasanvand S; Student Research Committee, Department of Food Science and Technology, School of Nutrition Sciences and Food Technology, Kermanshah University of Medical Sciences, Kermanshah, Iran. Electronic address: sara.hasanvand@kums.ac.ir., Hashami Z; Student Research Committee, Department of Food Science and Technology, National Nutrition and Food Technology Research Institute, Faculty of Nutrition Science and Food Technology, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran., Zarei M; Pharmaceutical Sciences Research Center, Tehran Medical Science, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran., Merati S; Department of Food Hygiene and Quality Control, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Tehran, Iran., Bashiry M; Department of Food Science and Technology, School of Nutrition Sciences and Food Technology, Kermanshah University of Medical Sciences, Kermanshah, Iran. Electronic address: moeinbashiry@gmail.com., Nag R; UCD School of Biosystems and Food Engineering, Agriculture and Food Science Centre, University College Dublin, Belfield, Dublin 4, Ireland. Electronic address: raj.nag@ucd.ie.
Jazyk: angličtina
Zdroj: The Science of the total environment [Sci Total Environ] 2024 Oct 20; Vol. 948, pp. 175011. Date of Electronic Publication: 2024 Jul 23.
DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.175011
Abstrakt: Milk has been globally recognised as a comprehensive and vital food source for centuries. However, the presence of heavy metals and metalloids (metal(loid)s) in milk is a global problem. As metal(loid)s are present in the soil due to natural geogenic and various anthropogenic activities, these metal(loid)s are bio-transferred into animal feed, which further results in the presence of metal(loid)s in milk due to bio transfer/accumulation. This systematic review collated information from published literature between 2000 and 2021. It focused on the global issue of metal(loid)s in milk, posing potential health risks. These contaminants enter the food chain through the bio-transfer/accumulation process from soil to animal feed to milk. The key metal(loid)s examined are arsenic (As), mercury (Hg), lead (Pb), and cadmium (Cd). A meta-analysis of 66 selected papers revealed the widespread presence of these contaminants in milk samples globally, with Pb being the most studied (43 %). This research estimated metal(loid)s levels or concentrations as 12.71 (95 % Confidence Interval (CI) = 0.16-25.26), 16.09 (95 % CI = 4.31-27.70), 197.04 (95 % CI = 75.28-318.18), 31.67 (95 % CI = 20.14-43.20) μg/kg (ppb) for As, Hg, Pb, and Cd, respectively using Stata™. The metal(loid) concentrations in milk were within the threshold limits other than Pb and Cd. Some studies in America, Africa, and Asia reported elevated Pb and Cd concentrations, raising health concerns. The simulated Risk Quotients (RQ) and Integrated Risk Quotient (IRQ) values generally remain above one, indicating potential human health risks. Notably, the IRQ value increases with more metal(loid)s consideration. Subgroup analysis indicates low-fat milk contains higher metal(loid)s concentrations. While metal(loid)s concentrations in milk largely comply with safety limits, some regions exhibit concerning concentrations. Therefore, continued surveillance to address potential health risks associated with metal(loid)s in milk is necessary to ensure dairy products' safety.
Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.
(Copyright © 2024 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)
Databáze: MEDLINE
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