Heavy Metals and Trace Elements Composition in Certain Meat and Meat Products Sold in Egyptian Markets

Meat is a very complex system contains various materials to meet the needs of the human being. For most people, diet is the main route of exposure of heavy metals and trace elements, and therefore the risk assessment of these elements to humans through dietary intake is important. In this investigation, 16 heavy metals and trace elements concentration (As, Cd, Pb, Al, Cu, Zn, Se, Mn, Fe, Ag, Sr, Cs, Cr, V, Ni and Ba) were evaluated (ppm) in 40 beef meat and sausage samples that have been collected from different stores in Egypt using the Inductively Coupled Plasma Optical spectroscopy (ICPOS) and the obtained results were compared with the permissible limits. The results revealed that there is a wide variation in the contents of the heavy metals and trace elements (ppm) of the examined samples. Sausage was found to contain the highest concentrations of the previously mentioned elements.