Levels of Metals in Kidney, Liver, and Muscle Tissue and their Influence on the Fitness for the Consumption of Wild Boar from Western Slovakia

Abstract

Due to environmental pollution, wild animals are exposed to various pollutants. Some game animals, such as wild boars are used by people for food, but their meat is not evaluated regarding pollution transfer, since they are unavailable on the official market. The aim of this paper is to present the concentrations of chosen metals (Cd, Co, Cu, Hg, Pb, and Zn) in the kidneys, liver, and muscles of wild boars (n = 40) hunted in eastern Slovakia, as derivatives of physiological distribution and anthropogenic pollution. We found that sex was not a statistically significant factor for metal concentrations. Tissue differences were observed for all the metals studied except for Co. Cd, Cu, and Hg showed the highest median concentrations in kidney tissue with the lowest in muscle tissue (2.73, 3.78, and 0.061 μg/g w.w., respectively). The highest Zn median concentration was noted in the liver tissue with the lowest in muscle tissue. Co and Cu concentrations varied according to the age groups. Correlations between metal concentrations in muscle and kidney tissue were not especially strong; such relationships were not found in liver tissue. Among all the potential relationships of the given metal concentrations between tissues, the only significant relationship, albeit weak, was noted for Pb in muscle and liver tissue. The concentrations found seem not to be extremely high, but according to EU maximum permitted residue levels for Cd and Pb concentrations in meat, none of the samples studied was fully fit for human consumption. TWI and risk was also excessive for both metals.

Concentrations of cadmium, lead, arsenic, and some essential metals in wild boar from Sweden

“…We did not find any correlation between the concentration of Cd or Pb and any of the other trace elements. This is in contrast to other wild boar studies where correlations between Cd and Pb (Medvedev 1999;Gašparík et al 2017) and between Cd and Mn (Demirbaş and Erduran 2017) were found. Cadmium concentration in kidney is expected to increase with age due to the specific accumulation in this organ.…”

“…However, there is no correlation between Cd concentrations in kidney and muscle (Medvedev 1999) and, therefore, predicting the Cd concentrations in muscle is not possible in our study. However, in several studies of wild boar with similar or somewhat higher kidney concentrations as in this study, it was found that if the level of Cd exceeded the maximum permissible level (set by the EU for domestic pig kidney), there was a proportion of muscle samples also exceeding the maximum permissible concentration in meat (Piskorová et al 2003;Bilandžić et al 2009;Bilandžić et al 2010;Amici et al 2012;Demirbaş and Erduran 2017;Gašparík et al 2017). This relationship emphasizes the need for studying the muscle concentrations in wild boar from Sweden, especially as the Swedish government has recently appointed an inquiry on how to facilitate the availability of wild boar meat to the public, as a measure to stimulate culling and limit damage to crops (Swedish Government 2018).…”

Evaluation of bioconcentration of trace elements in the Western Mediterranean mouse (Mus spretus Lataste, 1883) at two Moroccan wetland sites

“…Once micronutrients cross biological barriers and enter the bloodstream, they reach the liver and accumulate there. Our results on the distribution of metals in Mus spretus correspond to those reported for other mammalian species (Gdula-Argasińska et al, 2005;Jarić et al, 2011;Prevendar Crnić et al, 2015;Gašparík et al, 2016;Zietara et al, 2018). The liver was the main accumulator of the ve elements studied in both sites, followed by the kidney and heart.…”

Effects of Cadmium, Lead, and Mercury on the Structure and Function of Reproductive Organs

“…Food is the main source of cadmium exposure for the non-smoking general population [ 18 , 19 , 20 ]. Cadmium absorption from food in humans is relatively low (3–5%), and it is efficiently reabsorbed in kidneys, with a long biological half-life estimated from 10 to 30 years [ 21 , 22 , 23 , 24 , 25 , 26 , 27 ]. In relation to male infertility, cadmium is ranked as a highly toxic element [ 28 , 29 ].…”