Dietary intake and health risk assessment of lead and cadmium via consumption of cow meat for an urban population in Enugu State, Nigeria.

The study assessed the dietary intake of lead and cadmium and health risk from consumption of various parts of cow meat by the urban population of Enugu State, Nigeria. Meat samples (n=150) comprising of muscle, liver, kidney, intestine and tripe were purchased from abattoirs in Nsukka and Enugu. The samples were dried, ground and two gram was digested with 3:2 HNO3:HClO4 v/v. The Cd and Pb concentrations were read with an atomic absorption spectrophotometer. The dietary intakes were estimated using a one week food frequency questionnaire administered to 755 subjects. The dietary intake of lead (µg/kg body weight/week) were in the following ranges; men [0.15 (kidney)-0.55(intestine)], non pregnant/non lactating women [0.16 (kidney)-0.62 (liver)], pregnant/lactating women [0.13 (kidney)-0.53 (intestine)], undergraduate students [0.12 (kidney)-0.62 (intestine)] and school children [0.29 (kidney)-1.16 (liver)]; cadmium: men [0.42 (liver)-1.21 (tripe)], non-pregnant/non-lactating women [0.53 (kidney)-1.20 (tripe)], pregnant/lactating women [0.43 (kidney)-0.90 (intestine)], undergraduate students [0.40 (kidney)-1.18 (tripe)] and school children [0.97 (kidney)-1.93 (tripe)]. The total dietary intakes of lead from the various cow meat parts by the groups were much lower than the provisional tolerable weekly intake (PTWI) guide line, but for cadmium, the intakes were quite appreciable when compared to the PTWI guideline while the intake for school children was very high, 113% of PTWI for the metal. The target hazard quotients were in the range of 0.05-0.10 for lead and 0.42-0.90 for cadmium. These values are less than one, indicating that the subjects are not exposed to any significant health risk via cow meat consumption.

Bioaccumulation of trace metals in shellfish and fish of Bonny River and creeks around Okrika in Rivers State, Nigeria.

Lead, nickel, vanadium and cadmium were determined in fish and shellfish muscles, to assess contamination levels and identify bio-indicators. Vanadium was not detectable. Lead and cadmium were slightly above legal limits used in South East Asia, but lower than those of Australia and New Zealand. Higher contents of nickel, cadmium and lead in Pachymelania aurita and Crassostrea rhizophorae, lead in Mugil cephalus and cadmium in Periophthalmus koelreuteri, mark these species out as possible bio-indicators for the three metals in aquatic systems. Patterns of bioaccumulation seem to suggest that biophysiological and ecological characteristics influence bioaccumulation of trace metals in fish and shell fish.

Cadmium in locally grown rice (Oryza sativa) in Nigeria.

Cadmium levels were determined in locally grown rice samples in Nigeria and any potential risk involved in their consumption was assessed. The dried samples were digested with a 1:1 HNO3:HClO4 mixture and analysed with atomic absorption spectrophotometer (AAS). Mean cadmium values (mg/kg) were: Adamawa (0.50 ± 0.02), Benue (0.63 ± 0.05), Nasarawa (0.48 ± 0.10), Taraba (0.48 ± 0.10), Anambra (0.49 ± 0.09), Ebonyi (0.60 ± 0.08) and Enugu (0.59 ± 0.10). All samples exceeded the Codex Alimentarius maximum limit for cadmium in rice. The dietary intake for a 60 kg adult ranges from 235 to 309 µg/week in the northern region and 240-294 µg/week in the south-eastern region. The target hazard quotient (THQ) ranged from 0.54 to 0.71, which is less than 1, indicating that the population will not be exposed to a potential health risk from dietary cadmium. However, the measured cadmium levels in rice should be of concern.

Nephelometric and functional parameters response of coagulation for the purification of industrial wastewater using Detarium microcarpum.

Turbidimetry was used to study the coagulation performance of Detarium microcarpum (DM) in a fibre cement effluent (FCE) at room temperature. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) and Duncan new multiple range test (DNMRT) statistics were used to determine statistical difference of the coagulation performance of DM at various dosages and varying FCE pH. Increasing the coagulant dosage from 100 mg/L to 500 mg/L had no significant difference on the coagulation performance of DM at the same pH, however, varying FCE pH between 4 and 12 using the same coagulant dosage, had significant difference on the coagulation performance of DM.

Cadmium and lead levels in muscle and edible offal of cow reared in Nigeria.

The study assessed the concentration of cadmium and lead in the muscle, liver, kidney, intestine and tripe of cow in Nigeria. Results show that the ranges of detectable values of cadmium in mg/kg were 0.01-0.80 in muscle, <0.004-0.90 in liver, 0.10-1.12 in kidney, 0.01-0.90 in intestine and 0.01-1.10 in tripe while for lead, the ranges were <0.005-0.72 in muscle, 0.08-501.79 in liver, 0.04-44.89 in kidney, 0.01-108.02 in intestine and 0.01-127.90 in tripe. Cadmium was accumulated mostly in kidney while Pb accumulated more in liver and both were above international maximum permissible levels in most samples.