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Nkosi DV, Bekker JL, Hoffman LC. Toxic Metals in Wild Ungulates and Domestic Meat Animals Slaughtered for Food Purposes: A Systemic Review. Foods 2021; 10:foods10112853. [PMID: 34829133 PMCID: PMC8621197 DOI: 10.3390/foods10112853] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/24/2021] [Revised: 10/14/2021] [Accepted: 11/10/2021] [Indexed: 01/20/2023] Open
Abstract
The presence of toxic metals in harvested game meat is a cause for concern for public health and meat safety in general. Authorities and food safety agencies continue to develop guidelines and limits of the maximum allowable levels of toxic metals in food products. However, the situation is different for game meat products in developing countries, where a number of shortcomings have been identified. This includes a lack of game meat animal slaughter regulations, specific species' product limits that have not yet been established and the continued use of hunting or game meat animals' harvesting plans that could introduce the same toxic metals of concern. This review was conducted from English literature published between 2011 and 2021; it highlights the possible health effects and the shortcomings in the implementation of game meat safety production strategies for toxic metals (Arsenic, Lead, Cadmium and Mercury) in game meat animal production. Lead (Pb) remains the most significant threat for toxic metals contamination in game meat animals and the slaughter processes. In most developing countries, including in South Africa, the monitoring and control of these heavy metals in the game meat value chain has not yet been implemented.
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Affiliation(s)
- Davies Veli Nkosi
- Department of Environmental Health, Tshwane University of Technology, Pretoria 0001, South Africa;
- Correspondence: ; Tel.: +27-12-385-5283
| | - Johan Leon Bekker
- Department of Environmental Health, Tshwane University of Technology, Pretoria 0001, South Africa;
| | - Louwrens Christian Hoffman
- Department of Animal Sciences, University of Stellenbosch, Matieland, Stellenbosch 7602, South Africa;
- Centre for Nutrition and Food Sciences, Queensland Alliance for Agriculture and Food Innovation (QAAFI), The University of Queensland, Gatton 4343, Australia
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van den Heever L, Smit-Robinson H, Naidoo V, McKechnie AE. Blood and bone lead levels in South Africa's Gyps vultures: Risk to nest-bound chicks and comparison with other avian taxa. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2019; 669:471-480. [PMID: 30884269 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2019.03.123] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/29/2019] [Revised: 03/08/2019] [Accepted: 03/08/2019] [Indexed: 06/09/2023]
Abstract
Poisoning, including secondary lead poisoning, is cited as the single most important cause of vulture mortalities in Africa. To evaluate the prevalence of lead poisoning among South Africa's Gyps vultures compared to other, non-scavenging birds, we obtained blood and bone samples from Cape (Gyps coprotheres) and White-backed (G. africanus) vultures. We found that 66% of White-backed Vultures (n = 110, including 85 nest-bound chicks sampled at Dronfield Nature Reserve) and 80% of Cape Vultures (n = 15) had blood [Pb] in excess of 10 μg/dL, the upper limit of background exposure. Average blood [Pb] were 15.4 μg/dL and 29.7 μg/dL for White-backed and Cape vultures, respectively. Bone samples revealed that 12% of White-backed Vultures (n = 18) and 9% of Cape Vultures (n = 75) suffered from subclinical to severe clinical lead poisoning upon their deaths. By contrast, none of the 40 blood, bone or liver samples obtained from non-scavenging bird species were found to exceed background exposure levels. Our results suggest that, unlike non-scavenging birds, the scavenging lifestyle of Gyps vultures subjects them to lead poisoning on a regular basis. Had environmental sources of lead (e.g., dust) been the source of the lead poisoning at the White-backed Vulture breeding colony at Dronfield, all the chicks would have displayed similar blood lead concentrations. Instead the values ranged from barely detectable to very high, leading us to conclude that metallic lead fragments regurgitated by parents during feeding are responsible for the elevated lead levels in some of the chicks at this site. We conclude the likely source of these particles to be fragments of lead ammunition embedded in the carcasses of hunted animals. These results add to a growing body of evidence underscoring the threat posed by the use of lead ammunition and its potential role in the declines of vultures and other scavenging taxa.
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Affiliation(s)
- Linda van den Heever
- Terrestrial Bird Conservation Programme, BirdLife South Africa, Private Bag X16, Pinegowrie, Johannesburg 2123, South Africa; DST-NRF Centre of Excellence at the FitzPatrick Institute, Department of Zoology and Entomology, University of Pretoria, Private Bag X20, Hatfield, Pretoria 0028, South Africa.
| | - Hanneline Smit-Robinson
- Terrestrial Bird Conservation Programme, BirdLife South Africa, Private Bag X16, Pinegowrie, Johannesburg 2123, South Africa; Applied Behavioural Ecological & Ecosystem Research Unit (ABEERU), UNISA, P O Box 392, UNISA 0003, Florida, South Africa; School of Animal, Plant and Environmental Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Private Bag 3, Wits, Johannesburg 2050, South Africa.
| | - Vinny Naidoo
- Department of Paraclinical Sciences, Faculty of Veterinary Science, University of Pretoria, Private Bag X20, Hatfield, Pretoria 0028, South Africa.
| | - Andrew E McKechnie
- DST-NRF Centre of Excellence at the FitzPatrick Institute, Department of Zoology and Entomology, University of Pretoria, Private Bag X20, Hatfield, Pretoria 0028, South Africa; National Zoological Garden, South African National Biodiversity Institute, P O Box 754, Pretoria 0001, South Africa.
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