Considering the potential health hazardous effects, the distribution and deposition of heavy metals and trace elements including Mn, Fe, Cu, Zn, Cd, Cr, and Pb in different tissues (skin, brain, liver, meat, and bone) of broiler and layer chickens, their feeds, litter, and eggs were analyzed using atomic absorption spectrophotometer (AAS) after nitric/perchloric acid digestion. The samples for this study were taken from four poultry industries located at Sreepur upazila of Gazipur district of Bangladesh. The observed levels of heavy metals and trace element contents in different studied samples were to be in the range of 0.143±0.001 to 7.324±0.004 mg/kg for Mn, below the detection limit (BDL) to 324.43±0.003 mg/kg for Fe, 0.451±0.002 to 4.329±0.005 mg/kg for Cu, 0.014±0.001 to 7.413±0.003 mg/kg for Zn, 0.082±0.002 to 7.806±0.002 mg/kg for Cr, 0.112±0.002 to 1.581±0.002 mg/kg for Cd, and BDL to 34.775±0.004 mg/kg for Pb. Although some elements were found at a lower concentration in feed samples, they were found at a higher level in various parts of the examined chickens, eggs, and litter which may be resulted from other sources such as drinking water, soil, and the surrounding environment of the poultry industries. The brain contained a maximum amount of Cd, Cr, and Pb in comparison to other studied tissues of poultry. Most of the chicken body parts showed an excess level of Cr than the recommended guidelines. The Cu and Zn contents were usual in studied egg samples, whereas Mn, Fe, Cd, Cr, and Pb were found higher than their tolerance limits which are highly alarming for public health and demand regular governance and monitoring. Asian Australas. J. Biosci. Biotechnol. 2021, 6 (3), 128-141

Food safety and security have now been regarded as a significant emerging area within the food supply chain leading to scientific and public health concerns in the global world. The poultry sector is a substantial threat to heavy metal intoxication for Bangladeshi people due to contaminated drinking water and feed sources, as well as the poultry sector’s surrounding environment and soil. This study was carried out to ascertain the residual concentrations of heavy metals (Pb, Cd) and trace elements (Cr, Fe, Cu, and Zn) in various edible chicken body parts (breast, liver, gizzard, heart, kidney, and brain) to observe the quality of the consumed chickens and to assess public health risk. Atomic absorption spectrometry (AAS) was used to check the content of toxic heavy metals and trace elements in 108 samples of 18 broiler chickens collected from six different locations of Dhaka North City Corporation markets in Bangladesh. The measured concentrations (mg/kg fresh weight) ranged from 0.33±0.2 to 4.6±0.4, 0.004±0.0 to 0.125±0.2, 0.006±0.0 to 0.94±0.4, 4.05±4.2 to 92.31±48.8, 0.67±0.006 to 4.15±2.7, and 4.45±0.62 to 23.75±4.3, for Pb, Cd, Cr, Fe, Cu, and Zn respectively. Except for Pb and Cu most of the investigated heavy metals and trace element levels in chickens were lower than the maximum allowable concentration (MAC) set by FAO/WHO and other regulatory agencies., The estimated level of Pb was nearly six times higher in the chicken brain. The estimated daily intake (EDI) values for all the studied metals were below the preliminary tolerated daily intake (PTDI). The target hazard quotient (THQ) values of the broiler chicken meat samples varied for adults and children, and the range was found to be 0.037–0.073 for Pb, 0.007–0.01 for Cd, 0.0–0.08 for Cr, 0.002–0.004 for Fe, for 0.00–0.002 Cu, and 0.004–0.008 for Zn, not exceeding the maximum level of 1 according to USEPA. The calculated THQ and total target hazard quotient (TTHQ) values were measured at less than one, suggesting that the consumption of chicken meat has no carcinogenic danger to its consumers. The Target carcinogenic risks (TCRs) of Pb, Cd, Cr, and Cu were within acceptable limits. The TCR values for children were, to some extent, higher than that of adults, which proposes that regular monitoring of both harmful and essential elements in chicken samples is necessary to determine whether or not any possible health risk to consumers exists. In terms of health, this study demonstrated that consumers are chronically exposed to elemental contamination with carcinogenic and non-carcinogenic effects.

A study was investigated to estimate the current status of health hazardous organochlorine insecticide DDT and its metabolites DDE and DDD in different species of dry fish. To achieve the goal of this experiment, ten different sun-dried fish samples were collected from different markets of Dhaka city. The concentration of DDT, DDE and DDD was determined using the capillary column coupled to Gas Chromatograph with Electron Captured Detector (GC-ECD). Most of the dry fishes, seven out of ten samples, were found to be contaminated with DDT along with its metabolites DDE and DDD ranging from 0.029-1.22 mg/kg which is a serious concern because of the nature of long persistency and bioaccumulation of DDT in the environment. The highest concentration of DDT (1.22 mg/kg) was observed in Pampus chinensis dry fish whereas low concentration was detected in Otolithoides pama (0.029 mg/kg). Asian Australas. J. Food Saf. Secur. 2021, 5 (2), 79-84

The concentrations of pesticides were determined using high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) of 15 pond water and 10 canal water samples around the paddy or vegetable fields from Sadar Upazila, Lakshmipur (Coastal area). The analysis showed that some water samples were contaminated with organophosphorus and carbamate pesticides. The residue level of diazinon ranged from 0.315 to 0.441 μg/l whereas the carbaryl ranged from 0.136 to 0.204 μg/l. The level of carbofuran was found in the range of 0.373 to 2.208 μg/l, which were above the maximum acceptable levels of total and individual pesticide contamination.

Safe and clean water is an indispensable component for all kinds of living beings. An attempt was taken to examine the drinking water, particularly the groundwater quality of Savar Upazila under the Dhaka District of Bangladesh by assessing some physicochemical parameters such as pH, total dissolved solids (TDS), electrical conductivity (EC), and temperature and the levels of different heavy metals (Cu, Cd, Cr, Fe, Mn, and Zn). To measure the concentration of the six selected metals from the groundwater samples collected from 38 different locations of Savar Upazila, Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometry (AAS) was used. Our results showed that the pH, TDS, EC, and temperature ranged from (6.56-7.72), (73-437 mg/L), (117-654 µS/cm), and (27.7-30.5ºC), respectively which were found within the limit of water standards recommended by national and global regulatory authorities. The mean concentration of different studied metals in the reported water samples of Savar Upazila followed the order of Fe > Zn > Mn > Cr > Cu > Cd. The average concentration was 0.136±0.188 mg/L, 0.121±0.289 mg/L, 0.033±0.060 mg/L, 0.015±0.0096 mg/L, 0.0104±0.005 mg/L, and 0.0022±0.0019 mg/L for Fe, Zn, Mn, Cr, Cu, and Cd, respectively. In this study, Water quality index (WQI) was also calculated for the studied samples and it was observed that the groundwater of Savar Upazila belonged in the good to excellent categories and can be recommended as suitable for drinking purposes.