Overview
Türker and Acar developed an electrothermal atomic absorption method with a nickel modifier for cadmium and lead in milk and applied it, with flame atomic absorption for zinc, nickel, copper, chromium and iron, to 14 retail milk brands from Ankara. Per-brand values are printed for every element. The authors judged all levels within the limits they cited.
Key numbers
- Lead across 14 brands: mean 28 ± 3 µg/kg, per-brand 22 to 34 µg/kg (Table 4).
- Cadmium: mean 46 ± 5 µg/kg, per-brand 34 to 54 µg/kg (Table 4).
- Chromium: mean 0.8 ± 0.6 mg/kg, per-brand 0.23 to 2.13 mg/kg; nickel 0.24 ± 0.08 mg/kg (Table 4).
Methods (brief)
Milk (1.0 to 1.5 g) was digested with nitric acid and hydrogen peroxide on a hot plate. Cadmium and lead were read by Zeeman graphite furnace atomic absorption with a nickel modifier (solution LOD 1.2 and 1.5 µg/L), the other elements by flame. IAEA-155 and BCR-150 reference materials agreed within 4%.
Evidence Fitness
Good analytical quality control, but small (14 brands, one result each) with no collection dates, and no per-brand label of heat treatment or fat content. Cadmium near 46 µg/kg is far above most retail milk surveys. Because fat content is not given, this is not a direct measurement of reduced-fat milk.