Toxic Elemental Concentrations in Packed Milk Brands, Consumed by Pakistani Children and Young Adults: a Comprehensive Analysis with Implications for Public Health.

This study compared the toxic elements in twenty-one processed milk (PM) of different brands, consumed in Pakistan, and with buffalo and cow’s raw milk samples. Chemical toxins in milk consist of those hazardous materials, which may introduce in the time of milk processing or packing. Toxic elements (TE) contents are a significant factor in milk safety and quality. The objective of the current study was to identify the levels of three toxic elements, arsenic (As), cadmium (Cd), and lead (Pb) in 21 packed milk products, that were purchased from different cities of Sindh, Pakistan. Whereas for comparative purposes the raw milk was collected from cow and buffalo (n = 40 of each) In present study the contents of As, Cd and Pb in packed, cow and buffalo’ milk samples and assess the possible health hazards that these toxic elements could pose to those, who consume these milk products. The mean concentrations of the toxic elements, As, Pb and Cd in 21 packed milk were found in the range of 1.67–7.81, 27.4–65.0 and 32.5–55.7 µg/l, respectively, whereas in cow (1.5–4.8, 7.25–10.4 and 2.1–3.2) and buffalo’s milk sample (2.0-3.2, 9.5–15.6 and 1.0-1.84), respectively, possible due to possibly due to impact of processing. The contents of Cd and pb were 8 to 20 folds higher in packed milk as compared to cow and buffalo’s milk samples. In the case of As, lower values were observed in buffalo’ milk as compared to cow and packed milk samples. The study found that there was no possible health risk associated with consuming the selected dairy products, according to the health risk assessment indices, such as Hazard Index, Target Hazard Quotient, Estimated Daily Intakes, and cancer risk.