Lead in animal foods.

Analyses for lead content were carried out on 78 random samples of pet food (purchased in local grocery outlets) and on 25 individual rations for laboratory animals. The lead content of 46 samples of cat food ranged from 0.1 to 7.6 mug/g, 32 dog foods ranged from 0.1 to 3.4 mug/g, and 25 laboratory animal feeds ranged from 0.1 t0 4.0 mug/g. Foods that contain a significant amount of lead could add an uncontrolled variable to experiments using laboratory animals and may cause misinterpretation of experimental results.