?SCREENING OF FRESH ANIMAL MILK FOR LEAD CONTAMINATION
Keywords:
Lead inmilk, Animal milk analysis, Milk contamination.Abstract
Fresh milk samples of buffalo, goat and cow from different urban and rural locations falling within and outside the
proximity of the highways of Punjab and NWFP were analysed for lead using the atomic absorption method. The
possibility of anthropogenic contamination of lead in the milk samples was explored. Lead concentration of varying
levels wasfound in themilkofanimals habitatingnear highwaylocations inboththeprovinces.In general, maximum
leadlevelwasfoundinthegoatmilk,whiletheminimuminbuffalomilk.Theaverageconcentration wereO.082,0.098
and0.173mg 1.1fornearhighwayand0.062,0.044and0.142 mgl' foroff-highwayanimalsinthemilksofbuffalo,cow
and goat, respectively.The provincewise comparison showedmorecontamination of lead inthe milkof animals from
NWFP.Compared with international standards, the localmilk was found unsafe in terms of lead content.
