Contamination and Health Risks of Certain Heavy Metals and Trace Elements in Milk and Milk Products Consumed in Province of Monufia, Egypt.

The objective of this study was to determine the residue levels of some heavy metals and heavy elements a total of 52 different random milk and cheese samples (16 samples of milk 4 raw and 12 of dairy milk purchased from local supermarkets in their original covers from 3 different company and (36 cheese samples (vita, olive and astamboly) purchased from local supermarkets from three different company in their original package collected from 9 towns inside the province of Monufia, Egypt. All examined samples were analyzed by Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometer to determine heavy metal residues and trace elements [lead (Pb), Cadmium (Cd), Copper (Cu), zinc (Zn), N|ikal (Ni) and manganese (Mn)]. and estimated the daily intake and health risk index. The highest trace metals accumulation levels for Cd are found in milk samples collected from factory A and B while not detected in factory C, while samples from factory A, B and C had high levels in Pb and Mn.  The most abundant element in all tested cheeses was Zn, the richest content of Zn was identified in the three tested cheeses, the metal Zn in Olive cheese was 5.415, 3.718 and 4.16 mg/kg for factory A.B and C, respectively. The metal Cd not detected in all cheese tested. The THQ of all metals (Cd, Pb, Cu, Cr, Ni, Mn and Zn) via milk and dairy products consumption were less than one. The large variance and some high levels of contamination could be attributed to the application of quality standards in manufacturing and comparison with the other manufacturer.