RESUMO
Concentrations of cadmium, lead and mercury were determined in muscle, liver and kidney tissue from three different age groups of red deer (young animals aged 6 or 7 months, middle-aged animals aged 3 to 5 years, old animals aged over 8 years) from the Baranja region of Croatia. Median cadmium concentrations were low in the muscles of all investigated age groups (0.0002; 0.0009 and 0.0020 µg/g), higher in the liver (0.0279; 0.0656 and 0.1463 µg/g) and highest in the kidneys (0.4792; 2.8531 and 6.1657 µg/g). A positive correlation was established between cadmium concentration and age. In all analyzed tissues the median lead concentration was higher in young (muscle 0.0024; liver 0.0364 and kidney 0.0618 µg/g), compared to middle-aged animals (muscle 0.0001; liver 0.0184 and kidney 0.0160 µg/g). In contrast to cadmium, mercury had a negative correlation to age but median concentrations were very low (in muscle: 0.0011; 0.0001 and 0.0006 µg/g; in liver: 0.0051; 0.0037 and 0.0022 µg/g and in kidney: 0.0145; 0.0183 and 0.0106 µg/g) especially compared to cadmium. From the hygienic point of view all the examined tissues are edible since concentrations of the analyzed metals do not exceed values proposed by the official regulations, with the exception of a few kidney samples, which contained cadmium above the recommended value. Furthermore, mercury concentrations are no longer (since 2008) a matter of legislation.
