Affiliations: Department of Environmental Science and Engineering,
Gwangju Institute of Science & Technology 261 Cheomdan-gwangiro
(Oryong-dong), Buk-gu, Gwangju 500-712, Republic of Korea | Analytical Research Division, BCSIR Laboratories,
Dhaka - 1205, Bangladesh | Department of Soil, Water and Environment, Faculty of
Biological Sciences, University of Dhaka, Dhaka - 1000
Abstract: Abstract: Leaded gasoline has long been used as fuel for motor
vehicles though the problem of lead pollution in Dhaka was identified only in
1980. Use of leaded gasoline has declined by most part though phasing out of
leaded gasoline does not mean phase out of lead from the environment. Hence,
fate of lead in polluted environment from various sources should get high
priority in R & D programmes. The worst fate of lead in environment can be
its entrance into food chain. To investigate bio-concentration of lead in
agro-based products as an approach of assessing its ecotoxicological fate,
commercially produced chicken eggs and liquid milks were selected as layer
poultry feed and liquid milk production are directly dependent on feed crop
production. Twelve eggs were sampled randomly each from Dhaka and its nearby
seven districts covering the central region of Bangladesh. Thirteen kinds of
liquid milks commercially produced by six prominent milk producers have been
sampled with three replicates in each. Out of the 192 samples from 96 eggs, dry
weight basis mean lead concentration was found to be 8.1611 ppm with a sample
standard deviation of 0.5253, which is about 80 times higher than the maximum
permissible limit, while the maximum detected value was found to be 34.5637
ppm. The mean concentration of lead in milks was found to be 1.5081 ppm with a
sample standard deviation of 0.2177, which is some 75 times higher than maximum
permissible limit in liquid milk. By consuming a single egg and 250 mL of
commercially produced liquid milk in a day, a person is exposed to daily
dietary exposure of some 99.9722 μg and 377.025 μg of lead, respectively
excluding the other foods consumed.
Keywords: Lead pollution, lead bioconcentration, chemical food safety, public health
