Potential exposure to heavy metals through poultry products from industrial-adjacent areas of Bangladesh has raised public concern and requires systematic evaluation. This study applied a cross-sectional multi-matrix approach to assess chromium (Cr), cadmium (Cd), lead (Pb), and copper (Cu) in poultry feed, meat, and eggs collected from Savar Sadar, Hemayetpur, Hazaribag, and Rupganj (n = 15 per sample type per location). Egg albumen and yolk were analyzed separately to examine potential metal occurrence in edible tissues. In feed, Cr and Cd were below the limits of detection (<LOD), while Pb and Cu were detected at concentrations ranging from 0.18–0.27 mg/kg and 0.15–0.42 mg/kg, respectively. All detected concentrations were below established regulatory limits. Significant (P<0.05) location-wise variation was observed for Cu concentrations in feed, meat, and egg albumen samples. Pb exposure estimates were calculated using LOD/2 substitution because Pb concentrations in egg samples were below the analytical detection limit. Estimated daily intake values ranged from 2.08 × 10⁻⁶ to 2.93 × 10⁻⁵ mg/kg body weight/day, while target hazard quotient values were below 1 and Pb-related incremental lifetime cancer risk values ranged from 1.77 × 10⁻⁸ to 1.99 × 10⁻⁸ under conservative upper-bound exposure assumptions. Due to the cross-sectional design and the high proportion of <LOD values, the findings should be interpreted cautiously and do not permit evaluation of feed-to-tissue transfer dynamics. The study provides baseline information for future food safety monitoring in industrial-adjacent poultry production systems.
Begum et al. (Mon,) studied this question.