Abstract
Cadmium isone ofthe most important environmental contaminants. Animals grazing onnatural pastures are particularly exposed tocadmium. Sheep are mostly reared inextensive and grazing systems. Therefore, sheep may accumulate larger amounts ofcadmium compared toother ruminant species and are agood indicator ofexposure tocadmium contamination inagiven area. The determination ofcadmium concentrations inthe muscles, livers and kidneys oflambs and sheep was carried out inthe Czech Republic during the period 2001-2022. The average cadmium content inthe livers and kidneys ofall the lambs was 0.037±0.006 and 0.061±0.013mg.kg-1, respectively. The average cadmium content inthe livers and kidneys ofall the sheep was 0.319±0.047 and 1.255±0.204mg.kg-1, respectively. The maximum limit for human consumption was not exceeded inany ofthe 24samples inthe lambs but was exceeded in5 of33liver samples and 12 of33kidney samples inthe adult sheep. The average value ofcadmium inthe muscles ofthe lambs and sheep was 0.004±0.001mg.kg-1. The maximum limit for human consumption was not exceeded inany muscle sample. The cadmium content inboth the liver and inthe kidney differs significantly between the lambs and sheep, being higher inthe sheep (P<0.001 for both comparisons). Nostatistically significant trend ofadecrease inthe cadmium content inthe lamb and sheep tissues was found during the observed time (P>0.05). Wecan sum up that there isanevident need for further monitoring ofthe cadmium concentration inlamb and sheep tissues inthe Czech Republic.
Published Version
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