Trace metal contents in some milk and milk products in Nigeria.

The concentrations of metals (zinc, copper, cadmium, lead, iron, nickel, chromium and cobalt) in some milk and milk products in the Nigerian market were determined after acid digestion by using atomic absorption spectrophotometry. The concentrations of metals in these products varied from 0.11 to 5.29 mg kg-1 for Zn, not detected (nd) to 0.03 mg kg-1 for Cu, 0.002 to 0.11 mg kg-1 for Cd, 0.002-0.40 mg kg-1 for Pb, 0.30-15.18 mg kg-1 for Fe, 0.03-1.94 mg kg-1 for Ni; nd-1.21 mg kg-1 for Cr, and 0.001-0.04 mg.kg-1 for Co. The concentrations of nickel and cadmium in these products were above their permissible limits.