Abstract

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The milk and meat of some animals in Sokoto metropolis were assessed. The heavy metals in fresh milk and meat of four species of animals were also determined. Eight samples each of the milk and meat of the four species of animals (camel, cow, goat and sheep) were randomly collected at the abattoir and market place at the early morning hours. The samples collected were analyzed for determination of lead, cobalt, chromium, manganese, zinc, copper, nickel, mercury, barium, cadmium and iron contents. The results show that the milk and meat of the animals may be safe for consumption as most of the toxic metals like mercury, lead, nickel and cobalt were not detected while some essential elements and other metals like calcium, phosphorus, potassium, sodium, zinc, copper, iron and cadmium did not exceed the recommended permissible limit in the sample except for camel meat that exceeded the potassium permissible limit. The health importance of the results obtained is that in as much as it is good to avoid heavy metal poisoning, it is required that the essential metals be present in at least the minimum requirement for the normal body physiological processes to effectively take place.

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