Assessment of Heavy Metals and Trace Elements in Eggs and Eggshells of Gallus gallus domesticus, Coturnix coturnix and Anas platyrhynchos from Bangladesh

Overview

Rokanuzzaman and colleagues measured lead, cadmium, total chromium, copper, iron, and zinc in egg contents and eggshells from five poultry egg types collected around Jahangirnagar University in Savar, Bangladesh. The study includes indigenous chicken, white layer chicken, brown layer chicken, duck, and quail eggs. Values are reported in mg/kg; the source does not specify a wet- or dry-weight basis beyond drying the egg contents and eggshells before digestion.

Key numbers

• Sample frame: 10 samples total, described as five egg-content samples and five eggshell samples from indigenous chicken, white layer chicken, brown layer chicken, duck, and quail eggs.
• Egg contents, Table 1 (mg/kg): brown layer chicken egg lead (Pb) 0.044±0.002, cadmium (Cd) BDL, chromium (Cr) 0.00208±0.0007, Cu BDL, Fe 8.9±0.9, Zn 21.38±1.6.
• Egg contents, Table 1 (mg/kg): indigenous chicken egg Pb 0.0421±0.07, Cd BDL, Cr 0.001±0.0005, Cu BDL, Fe 11.8±1.05, Zn 22.1±1.5.
• Egg contents, Table 1 (mg/kg): duck egg Pb 0.022±0.005, Cd BDL, Cr 0.00168±0.0004, Cu BDL, Fe 23.822±1.1, Zn 30.84±0.2.
• Egg contents, Table 1 (mg/kg): quail egg Pb 0.486±0.09, Cd 0.024±0.00325, Cr 0.002475±0.0006, Cu BDL, Fe 18.549±1.08, Zn 33.14±0.3.
• Egg contents, Table 1 (mg/kg): white layer chicken egg Pb 0.0001±0.00001, Cd 0.0131±0.00106, Cr 0.00194±0.0004, Cu 0.018±0.0035, Fe 18.486±1.07, Zn 35.36±0.4.
• Eggshells, Table 2 (mg/kg): brown layer chicken eggshell Pb 0.4609±0.064, Cd BDL, Cr BDL, Cu 0.029±0.007, Fe 0.41±0.061, Zn 0.04595±0.006.
• Eggshells, Table 2 (mg/kg): indigenous chicken eggshell Pb 0.3496±0.0283, Cd BDL, Cr BDL, Cu 0.0375±0.003, Fe 0.4195±0.072, Zn 0.0635±0.003.
• Eggshells, Table 2 (mg/kg): duck eggshell Pb 0.3607±0.065, Cd BDL, Cr BDL, Cu 0.0127±0.002, Fe 0.3115±0.053, Zn 0.035±0.005.
• Eggshells, Table 2 (mg/kg): quail eggshell Pb 0.18855±0.01, Cd BDL, Cr BDL, Cu 0.0265±0.0035, Fe 0.69875±0.082, Zn 0.03845±0.004.
• Eggshells, Table 2 (mg/kg): white layer chicken eggshell Pb 0.22185±0.057, Cd BDL, Cr BDL, Cu 0.0, Fe 0.2575±0.021, Zn 0.05375±0.003.
• Estimated dietary intake, Table 3 (mg/kg): chicken egg Pb 0.0020, Cd 0.0003, Cr 3.93x10-5, Cu 0.00042, Fe 0.0307, Zn 0.00619; chicken and duck egg Pb 0.0032, Cd Undetectable, Cr 5.03x10-5, Cu Undetectable, Fe 0.0473, Zn 0.0082.
• Table 4 reports target hazard quotients for Pb of 0.5714 for chicken egg and 0.9142 for chicken and duck egg; the source reports HI 0.0605 and 0.00109 for those rows respectively.

Methods (brief)

Egg and eggshell samples were collected in the Jahangirnagar University area (23°52'56.6"N 90°16'01.6"E) from local markets, washed, labeled, separated, dried in sunlight, and ground with a mortar. The authors weighed 1 gram of each sample powder, digested it with 25 ml of 65% HNO3, added 10 ml perchloric acid and later 2ml HCl, diluted with deionized water up to 60 ml, filtered the digest, and analyzed Pb, Cd, Cr, Cu, Fe, and Zn by atomic absorption spectrophotometry against standard curves. The source reports total chromium, not Cr(VI), and uses BDL without printing LOD/LOQ values in the extracted text.

Related evidence

• Lead
• Cadmium
• Chromium
• Copper
• Iron
• Zinc
• Eggs
• Chicken
• Poultry
• Eggs
• Poultry (chicken, turkey, duck)

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