Bioaccumulation of Lead and Cadmium in Fresh Local and Imported Frozen Beef Livers

Background: There are insufficient biochemical studies on the contamination of livers with heavy metals by means of the food source for these cattle or poor packaging and storage. Methods: This study used an atomic absorption spectrophotometer (ASS) device to measure the concentrations of lead and cadmium, in which 18 samples of livers by three products were collected from butchers and markets in Wasit Governorate (Fresh local livers, Iranian and Indian frozen livers) with 6 samples for each product.Results: According to the findings of the biochemical tests for heavy metals, the frozen Indian and Iranian liver had the highest mean of Pb levels (0.2958 and 0.3810) while, the fresh local livers had the lowest mean (0.2532). On the other hand, the data showed that the highest mean of Cd accumulation were identified in frozen livers from India and Iran, whereas the lowest mean was in local livers as (0.3688, 0.2098 and 0.0697) respectively. Statistical analysis found that there was highly significant difference in livers (P≤ 0.05) in the mean content of Pb and Cd.Conclusion: This study provided us with a good concept that consuming fresh livers is better than frozen because frozen products are exposed to many factors of contamination with unhealthy pollutants, in addition to poor storage and the different degrees of freezing to which these products were exposed, which negatively affects people’s health.