Heavy Metal Residues in Raw Cow Milk Collected from Three Major Cities of Odisha, India

Environmental pollution, particularly that caused by heavy metals, is a significant global concern in the current period of globalisation and possess a substantial risk to human and animal health through food chain. There have also been reports of heavy metal contamination of cattle and buffalo milk from various parts of India, including Tamilnadu, the Mumbai suburbs, and Northern Gujarat. However, no research has been done to determine whether cow milk from the study area in the state of Odisha contains heavy metal residues. Residue of heavy metals (arsenic, lead, cadmium, mercury and cobalt) in raw cow milk samples collected from three major cities of Odisha was studied. Arsenic was not detected in any of the milk samples. In the milk samples from Bhubaneswar, lead was detected higher than the permissible limit recommended by Codex standard and FSSAI, cadmium was detected close to the permissible limit recommended by Codex standard but below the limit recommended by FSSAI, cobalt and mercury were detected below the permissible limit recommended by Codex standard and FSSAI. In Cuttack and Puri, lead was detected close to the recommended permissible limit but other metals (viz. cadmium, cobalt and mercury) were below the recommended permissible limit. Among the three cities, heavy metals were detected highest in the milk samples from Bhubaneswar than Cuttack and Puri. Three of Odisha's largest cities-Bhubaneswar, Cuttack, and Puri-are rapidly becoming more urbanized and industrialized, with populations and automobiles increasing. This might contaminate water and soil, which would then poison the food chain. This could be the primary way that heavy metals enter the animal body, which would then contaminate milk and animal food. The Pb and Cd residues detected in cow milk from the study areas were alarming. It suggested that the cows reared by Goalas in these study areas do not produce environmentally safe and suitable milk for human consumption.