Lead poisoning in cattle — transfer of lead to milk

Abstract

The transfer of lead to milk in cattle in relation to blood lead levels and the uptake of lead in edible tissues was studied for an accidental exposure over 1 or 2 days to lead in excessive amounts from the licking of burnt storage batteries. The degree of exposure was monitored by determination of blood lead levels. Milk and blood samples were taken from eight cows, without acute symptoms of lead poisoning, during a period of 18 weeks. Two weeks after the accidental exposure, lead levels (mean ± SD) in milk were 0.08 ± 0.04 mg kg −1 and in blood 0.36 ± 0.04 mg kg −1 in six of the cows. The relationship between lead concentration in blood and those in milk was found to be exponential and could be expressed by the equation: log y = 3.19 x − 2.36 ( r = 0.85, p < 0.001), where y and x are the lead concentrations in milk and blood, respectively. The lead level in milk was relatively constant up to a blood lead level of 0.2–0.3 mg kg −1, and increased sharply at higher blood levels. The biological half-life of lead in blood was shown to be ∼ 9 weeks. In eight acutely sick cows, which were emergency slaughtered, the range of lead levels in edible muscle tissue was 0.23–0.50 mg kg −1 wet weight. Very high concentrations were found in the kidneys, with a range of 70–330 mg kg −1, and in the livers, with a range of 10–55 mg kg −1. Four of the cows were pregnant, in the first or second month of gestation, during the episode of exposure. The lead exposure was not found to disturb the gestation or development of the fetuses.