Contamination of cows milk by heavy metal in Egypt

The present investigation was carried out to assess the residues levels of five metals (Cadmium, Copper, Lead, Iron and Zinc) in cow milk collected from different sites in El-Qaliubiya governorate, Egypt. A total of 100 cow milk samples were collected from twenty cows in each location sites during the morning milking in the period from March to April, 2011. The highest average concentration are those of iron (16.38 lg/g) followed by zinc (10.75 lg/g) and lead (4.404 lg/g), while the lowest mean concentration are 2.836 and 0.288 lg/g for copper and cadmium, respectively. The results showed that most of the milk samples from the different sites containing all the studied metals with concentration higher than those recommended for milk by international dairy federation standard and Codex. © Springer Science+Business Media, LLC 2012.