Trace elements and heavy metals in poultry and livestock meat in Taiwan

Trace elements and heavy metals were determined in poultry and livestock meat by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry after graphite block digestion. Samples were collected from markets in Taiwan and included beef (20), mutton (20), pork (30), chicken (30), duck (10) and goose (10). Mean concentrations of Mn, Co, As, Se, Mo, Cd, Sb and Pb in meat samples were 0.106-0.365 μg/g, 0.002-0.033 μg/g, 0.005-0.035 μg/g, 0.108-0.349 μg/g, 0.029-0.140 μg/g, <0.002-0.003 μg/g, <0.002-0.004 μg/g and 0.009-0.046 μg/g, respectively. Arsenic concentrations in both pork and chicken were higher than in other meat. Lead concentrations were higher in duck. Risk assessment from these data did not indicate harm for public health.