Assessment of the risks of heavy metals contamination of dairy products from cattle farming in urban and peri-urban areas in Benin: case of the commune of Abomey-Calavi

Abstract

Human activities, a potential source of environmental pollution, are more concentrated in cities. Thus the ecosystem is probably threatened. The present work aims to evaluate the metallic contamination of dairy products (milk and Peuhl cheese) by heavy metals (lead and cadmium). For doing this, milk sampled at Godomey and Akogbato as well as formulated cheeses have undergone various physicochemical analyzes including atomic absorption spectrometry. From results obtained, it appears that the samples investigated were contaminated with lead and cadmium with a high lead content. These contents, expressed as mg of metal per kg of sample, ranged from 0.0321 to 0.4224 for lead and from 0.0083 to 0.0392 for cadmium. These values are for the most part above those allowed (0.02 mg/kg, limit lead content and the total absence of cadmium in dairy products) by the codex alimentarius. Milk, staple food of the child, is itself a victim of the civilization disease: various pollutants come to contaminate it. Heavy metals, whatever their content, lead for example, never have a useful effect and are always harmful.