THE ANALYSIS OF MONITORING RESULTS OF SAMPLES OF MEAT AND FISH ON THE CONTENT OF HEAVY METALS

Abstract

There still remains the question of monitoring the quality and safety of food products. The analysis of
data from monitoring of the results of studies on samples of food products and food raw materials over the
past five years shows that a great number of research results have the ranges: less than 0.02 mg/kg for arsenic,
less than 0.01 mg/kg for lead, less than 0.001 mg/kg for cadmium. For the analysis of data from monitoring of
the results of investigations on samples of food products and food raw materials for arsenic, lead and cadmium
content the results of studies on samples of such product groups as “Meat and meat products”, “Poultry
and poultry products”, “Fish, fish products and other aquatic organisms” are given. When analyzing the samples
for the presence of arsenic in the range of concentrations less than 0.02 mg/kg the group “Poultry and
poultry products” prevails – 49.1 % of the total number of studies. In the concentration range of 0.02–0.05
mg/kg the group “Meat and meat products” prevails – 37.9 % of the total number of studies. In the concentration
range of 0.05–0.10 mg/kg and 0.1–1.0 mg/kg the group “Fish, fish products and other aquatic organisms”
dominates – 25.0 %, 26.6 % of the total research studies, respectively. When analyzing the samples for the
presence of lead in the concentration range less than 0.01 mg/kg the group “Poultry and poultry products”
prevails –81.8 % of the total number of studies. In the concentration range of 0.01–0.03 mg/kg, 0.03–0.05
mg/kg, 0.05–0.1 mg/kg and 0.1–1.0 mg/kg the group “Fish, fish products and other aquatic organisms” prevails
– 25.5 %, 16.7 %, 10.9 % and 5.2 % of the total number of studies, respectively. When analyzing the
samples for the presence of cadmium in the concentration range less than 0.001 mg/kg the group “Meat and
meat products” prevails – 60.5 % of the total number of studies. In the concentration range of 0.001–0.005
mg/kg and 0.005–0.010 mg/kg the group “Fish, fish products and other aquatic organisms” prevails – 14.6 %
and 17.7 % of the total number of studies, respectively. In the concentration range of 0.01–0.05 mg/kg the
group “Meat and meat products” dominates – 20.6 % of the total number of studies. The content of arsenic,
lead and cadmium in all examined samples of food products and food raw materials doesn’t exceed the maximum
acceptable concentrations, which indicates a low level of intake of these elements in the human body
with food.