Mesinger and Ocieczek 2021 - Heavy metals in red deer meat in Poland
Mesinger and Ocieczek measured arsenic, cadmium, lead, and mercury in meat samples from red deer does and assessed game-meat intake risk in Poland. The study is routeable for game-meat occurrence because Table 1 reports measured concentrations in meat samples. Arsenic, cadmium, and mercury were below the method detection limit in all 12 samples, and lead was below detection in 11 of 12 samples with a single sample at 0.018 mg/kg.
Key numbers
- Sample frame: 12 red deer doe meat samples from the northern part of the Pomeranian Voivodship, animals obtained January-February 2019.
- Method working range stated in the PDF: arsenic 0.010-5.0 mg/kg, cadmium 0.002-1.00 mg/kg, lead 0.010-5.0 mg/kg, and mercury 0.001-5.0 mg/kg; the lower bound is the limit of detection for each analyte.
- Table 1 reports arsenic, cadmium, lead, and mercury contents in red deer meat samples.
- Arsenic: <0.010 mg/kg in all 12 samples (12/12 below detection).
- Cadmium: <0.002 mg/kg in all 12 samples (12/12 below detection).
- Lead: <0.010 mg/kg in 11 samples and 0.018 mg/kg in one sample (sample 4).
- Mercury: <0.001 mg/kg in all 12 samples (12/12 below detection).
- The discussion cites comparison literature for lead: a mean of 0.1000 +/- 0.09 mg/kg in red deer meat from north-eastern Poland (Falandysz et al. 2005, Warmia and Mazury) and 0.1200 +/- 0.10 mg/kg in red deer meat from south-western Poland. These are cited values from other studies, not measurements from this study’s 12 samples.
- The source cites Commission Regulation 1881/2006 limits of 0.10 mg/kg fresh product for lead and 0.050 mg/kg fresh product for cadmium for slaughter-animal meat comparison.
Methods (brief)
Analyses were conducted at an independent accredited laboratory using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) per Polish Standard PN-EN 15763:2010. Each 300 g sample combined leg, shoulder, saddle, and diaphragm muscle from a single doe carcass. The paper reports total arsenic and total mercury, with no speciation into inorganic arsenic or methylmercury.
Implications
Certification: Supplies game-meat occurrence context for red deer as a near-total non-detect dataset at the stated method LODs. Arsenic, cadmium, and mercury are non-detect context across all 12 samples; lead contributes one above-LOD value at 0.018 mg/kg with 11 below-LOD samples.
Courses: Useful for showing how game-meat risk assessments compare wild meat with slaughter-animal regulatory limits.
App: Can inform venison-specific game-meat context for Poland, with detection-limit caveats.
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Verification notes
The paper reports total As and total Hg only. Non-detects should be preserved as source-reported non-detects rather than converted into zeros.
Page history
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| Commit | Date | Description |
|---|---|---|
| ae6c129 | 2026-07-01 | feat(auth): large login + role-based signup screens (design, burgundy) |