Assessment of heavy metals in body muscles/organs of locally reared poultry in cocoa and non-cocoa producing areas of Cross River State, Nigeria

There is a growing concern about the impact of increased used of Agro-pesticide on public health and safety issues especially in farming community who pursue high agricultural productivity. Pesticide pollution is a subject of global concern and the extent of its poisoning is considered to be grossly under estimated. This study was conducted to assess the concentration of heavy metals (Cd, Pb, Hg, Cr, As and Ni) in muscle, liver, kidney and lungs of matured locally reared chickens. Sampling was carried out in two cocoa producing areas (Ikom and Etung) and non-cocoa producing area (Odukpani) in Cross River State, Nigeria, over a period of one year (November, 2013 to October, 2014). Determination of heavy metals was carried out using Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometer (ASS). Highest levels of cadmium (0.11±0.02 μg/g) and lead (0.26±0.11 μg/g) were recorded in liver simples from Etung and Ikom. The highest levels of chromium concentration (2.95±0.05 μg/g) was observed in kidney of chickens from Etung, while nickel (1.16-±0.0404 μg/g) was highest in lung samples from Etung and Odukpani recorded the highest nickel concentration values (1.16±0.04 μg/g). The results show that higher levels of heavy metals can accumulate in the body tissues/organs of chickens in cocoa producing area. These are no exception since Etung is a cocoa producing area and the metals were found highest in kidney and lungs of chicken from this area. Generally, livers and kidneys were found to have the highly significant (P<0.5) levels of the metals than the muscles and lungs the lowest. However, the concentrations of all the metals studied were within the tolerance limits with exception of chromium and nickel which were respectively higher than their 0.10 μg/g and 0.5 μg/g tolerance limit. The results obtained in this study will be useful in formulating guidelines and standards for heavy metals in chicken products in cocoa-producing and non-cocoa producing areas of Nigeria.