Biotransfer of heavy metals in Jersey cows

Abstract

Land application of sewage sludge, sewage water and other industrial wastes gradually increases the toxic metals in the soil environment and these will be increasingly taken up by plants and subsequent transfer into the food chain causing severe damage to both animal and human health. The biotransfer of different heavy metals and other micronutrients was studied in the Jersey milch cows. All the micronutrient elements showed a positive build-up throughout the experimental, in which Fe recorded the highest value in milk samples, followed by Zn, Mn and Cu. The heavy metal content in milk sample viz., Pb, Cd, Ni and Cr ranged from traces to 0.028; 0.02 to 0.056; traces to 17.86 and 0.114 to 9.35 mg/ kg respectively. Concentration of heavy metal in plasma sample was higher than the serum and it also exceeded the critical limit. Higher levels of heavy metal accumulation in blood will be more toxic because it might be translocated to other organs of the animal, viz. liver, kidney, etc. Concentration of Pb was high in blood compared with other heavy metal. Among the samples analyzed, viz., milk, blood - blood recorded the highest value of all the heavy metal. Degrees of bioaccumulation and biotransfer were different for different elements, concentration of heavy metals in milk and blood sample could be considered as bio-indicators of heavy metal pollution in an environment.