Abstract

The determination of Cd, Cr, Cu, Fe,Mn, Ni, Pb and Zn contents in fresh meats; cow meat (beef), sheep meat (mutton), goat meat (caprine) pig meat (pork) and foul meat (chicken) found in the industrial area of Kaduna south were carried out with Flame Atomic Absorption spectrophotometric technique. Samples were treated in triplicate and analyses were carried out following EPA Method 3050B digestion procedures. The overall results ranged from 0.001-0.076, 0.001-0.092, 0.023-1.955, 0.110-0.999, 0.078-0.922, 0.011-0.095, 0.011-0.065 and 1.011-2.971 μg/g for Cd, Cr, Cu, Fe, Mn, Ni, Pb and Zn, respectively. The mean concentrations of heavy metals obtained from the meats of the same species of animals from the remote area (control) were much lower than those obtained from the meat samples of actual samples. This reflects a general contamination of the meats by the heavy metals studied. All parameters examined in the meat samples have values that are below or within the maximum permissible limit of WHO, FAO and EC Standards, hence the present result may not pose any serious health hazard but does call for close monitoring of these heavy metals in meat products meant for human consumption.