Journal Article

Toxic element levels in ingredients and commercial pet foods

Brunetto, Marcio Antonio, Rentas, Mariana Fragoso, Perini, Mariana Pamplona, Pedreira, Raquel Silveira, Pedrinelli, Vivian, de Carvalho Balieiro, Júlio Cesar, Pontieri, Cristiana Fonseca Ferreira, Rodrigues, Roberta Bueno Aires, Amaral, Andressa Rodrigues, Vendramini, Thiago Henrique Annibale, Risolia, Larissa Wunsche, Zafalon, Rafael Vessecchi Amorim

2021

Overview

Nowadays, there is a growing concern about contamination of toxic metals (TM) in pet food due to the great potential for health risks of these elements. TM concentrations in commercial pet foods (n = 100) as well as in ingredients used in their composition (n = 100) were analyzed and compared to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) maximum tolerable level (MTL), and the TM concentrations found in the different sources of carbohydrate, protein, and fat were compared. The TM concentrations were determined by inductively coupled plasma with optical emission spectrometry (ICP-OES). Concentrations above the MTL for aluminum, mercury, lead, uranium, and vanadium were observed in both dog and cat foods, and the percentage of dog foods that exceeded the MTL of these TM were: 31.9%; 100%; 80.55%; 95.83%; and 75%, respectively, and in cat foods: 10.71%; 100%; 32.14%; 85.71%; 28.57%, respectively. The MTL values of these TMs and the mean values in dog foods (mg/kg dry matter basis) (MTL [mean ± standard deviation]) were: aluminum: 200 (269.17 ± 393.74); mercury: 0.27 (2.51 ± 1.31); lead: 10 (12.55 ± 4.30); uranium: 10 (76.82 ± 28.09); vanadium: 1 (1.35 ± 0.69), while in cat foods were: aluminum: 200 (135.51 ± 143.95); mercury: 0.27 (3.47 ± 4.31); lead: 10 (9.13 ± 5.42); uranium: 10 (49.83 ± 29.18); vanadium: 1 (0.81 ± 0.77). Dry foods presented higher concentrations of most TM (P < 0.05) than wet foods (P < 0.05). Among the carbohydrate sources, there were the highest levels of all TM except cobalt, mercury, and nickel in wheat bran (P < 0.05), while among the protein sources, in general, animal by-products had higher TM concentrations than plant-based ingredients. Pork fat had higher concentrations of arsenic, mercury, and antimony than fish oil and poultry fat. It was concluded that the pet foods evaluated in this study presented high concentrations of the following TM: aluminum, mercury, lead, uranium, and vanadium.

• Publisher: Nature Publishing Group UK,Nature Publishing Group,Nature Portfolio
• Subject: 692/499 / 692/699 / Aluminum / Animal Feed - analysis / Animal Feed - toxicity / Animals / Antimony / Arsenic / Bioaccumulation / Cats / Cobalt / Dogs / Dry matter / Fish oils / Food / Food Analysis / Food contamination / Food Ingredients - analysis / Food Ingredients - toxicity / Health risks / Heavy Metal Poisoning - veterinary / Heavy metals / Humanities and Social Sciences / Lead / Mercury / Metals, Heavy - analysis / multidisciplinary / Nickel / Pet food / Pork / Protein sources / Science / Science (multidisciplinary) / Spectrometry / Uranium / Vanadium / Wheat bran