Determination of some heavy metal ions concentration in fresh cow milk obtained from some herder settlements around Wukari, IBI and Tella in Taraba state

Nine (9) samples of fresh milk from three different breeds of cow (Nama, Red Bororo and White Fulani) were collected from Sukari, Ibi, and Tella areas in Taraba state, for the determination of the presence and concentration of Lead, Cadmium, and Chromium using AAS, as well as health assessment of the heavy metals in fresh cow milk. The results obtained are; for Sukari, the average concentration of Pb, Cd, and Cr in Nama, Red Bororo and white Fulani milks are 0.308±0.002, 0.0067±0.002, and 0.037±0.002 ppm respectively. For Ibi, the average concentration of Pb, Cd, and Cr in Nama, Red Bororo and white Fulani milks are 0.493±0.002, 0.0079±0.002, and 0.078±0.002 ppm respectively. And for Tella, the average concentration of Pb, Cd, and Cr in Nama, Red Bororo and white Fulani milks are, 0.391±0.002, 0.0073±0.002, and 0.064±0.002 ppm respectively. The results of the finding revealed that, the concentration of Pb and Cd exceeded the WHO permissible limit of 0.02 ppm for Pb and 0.005 ppm for Cd. Also, the concentration of Cr in Sukari and Ibi exceeded the WHO permissible limit and within the range of 0.1 ppm in Tella. Based on the evaluated mean concentration, Lead and Cadmium were detected at high levels in all the nine samples, while chromium was low in the samples collected from weary and Tella and equals the permissible limit in Ibi samples. Therefore, consumers of fresh cow milk from the locations under consideration are at risk of some of the health challenges associated with these heavy metals.