Determination of some minerals and heavy metal levels in Urfa cheese and cow's milk

Abstract

This research was carried out to determine the levels of some minerals and heavy metals in Urfa cheeses and cow's milk offered for sale in Şanlıurfa. Mineral and heavy metal levels were determined by analysing 18 Urfa cheese and 21 cow milk samples collected from retail outlets with ICP-MS. Mean mineral and heavy metal contents in Urfa cheese samples were; magnesium (Mg) 129.8 ±31.14 mg/kg, calcium (Ca) 2712.66 ±1002.4 mg/kg, potassium (K) 272.06 ±127.21 mg/kg, titanium (Ti) 7.48 ±2.63 mg/kg, zinc (Zn) 40.4 ±16.33 mg/kg, selenium (Se) 10.6 ±3.51 mg/kg. In cow milk samples, average selenium (Se) 0.22 ±0.04 mg/kg, titanium (Ti) 0.07 ±0.009, mg/kg, copper (Cu) 0.0068 ±0.01 mg/kg and chromium (Cr) was detected at the level of 0.019 ±0.001 mg/kg. Arsenic (As), cadmium (Cd), lead (Pb) and thallium (Tl) levels were below the detectable levels in Urfa cheese and cow's milk samples. As a result, it was concluded that the samples do not pose a significant danger to public health in terms of heavy metal pollution and can contribute significantly to nutrition with the mineral substances it contains.