Distribution of toxic metals in organs of local cattle, sheep, goat and poultry from the West Bank, Palestinian Authority.

Graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrophotometry was used to measure the concentrations of Cu, Cd, Pb, and Zn in muscles and internal organs (liver, kidneys, heart, and lungs) of cattle, sheep goat and poultry sampled from local markets in the West Bank, Palestinian Authority. Mean levels of metals (dry weight basis) during this study were as follows: Cd: 0.34-0.57 microg/g, Pb: 0.2-4.7 microg/g, Cr: 0.44-3.62 microg/g and Cu: 1.03-217.9 microg/g. Muscles and internal organs of each species were found to have statistically different metal levels. Generally, livers and kidneys were found to have the highest levels of metals and muscles the lowest levels. When compared to each other, the four animal groups either did not show any significant differences or no clear trends. Compared to results reported in the literature, our results were comparable to or less than most of the studies reported from clean sites in different countries.