Heavy metals are introduced into water due to anthropogenic activities and can significantly affect an entire ecosystem. Due to their close integration with the water environment, fish are a sensitive indicator of contamination. In addition, fish is an important element in human diets, therefore, monitoring the concentrations of metallic contaminants in their meat is particularly important for food safety. This study aimed to assess the pollution of water ecosystems with selected toxic heavy metals in lakes Dratów, Czarne Sosnowickie, and Syczyńskie. The concentration of Pb, Cd, and Hg in water, sediment, and freshwater fish muscle tissue was determined, and a food safety assessment was performed. The analysis of water and sediments showed that the sediments were characterised by a significantly higher concentration of heavy metals. Presumably, this ecosystem element plays an important role in the uptake of heavy metal contaminants by fish whose levels were higher in planktonophagous and benthophagous fish species as compared to predatory fish. The food safety assessment showed that amounts of heavy metals in the muscle tissue posed no threat to the health of consumers ingesting that fish species, neither individually (THQ) nor collectively (TTHQ).

The carry-over of heavy metals from feed to muscles is generally low if animals are fed with a standard diet containing amounts below the maximum permissible levels. However, prolonged exposure to heavy metals can lead to their accumulation in some organs like muscles, liver, and kidneys. This paves the way for human health risks related to the consumption of products of animal-origin. Thus, using feed mixtures with a low level of heavy metals in pig production will contribute to increasing public health and safety and is of environmental concern. The study aimed to assess the impact of the level of some heavy metals (Cd, Pb, Hg, Cu, Zn, Fe and Mn) in standard (control) feed mixtures and in alternative feed mixtures based on maize or new rye varieties (population and hybrid) on the heavy metal concentration in muscles, liver and kidney of fattened pigs at slaughter. While some differences between heavy metals content in examined tissue samples from experimental groups were observed, all of them were in the range of allowable levels according to European Community rules. In conclusion, new rye varieties, especially the hybrid variety, could be an alternative source of cereal grains for pig nutrition.

The aim of the study was to determine the influence of Cu-glycine chelate on the chemical composition of the liver and blood parameters of broiler chickens. A total of 250 one-day-old Ross 308 male chicks were allotted into 5 groups with 5 replicates of 10 birds each. Rearing of birds lasted 42 days. In the experiment Cu was added to the premix in the form of CuSO4 (16 mg, 8 mg Cu), and in the form of Cu glycine chelate (16 mg, 8 mg, 4 mg Cu). The parameters in the chickens’ blood remained within the range of physiological norms when lower levels of the analyzed elements were added. Adding lower levels of Cu (8 or 4 mg kg-1) in comparison with the recommended doses (16 mg kg-1) for broilers, in the form of highly assimilable organic sources, did not reduce the content of minerals Cu, Fe, and Zn in the chickens’ liver, but reduced the faecal Fe, Cu and Zn concentrations compared to CuSO4.

This work reports on cadmium and lead contaminations in the edible snail Helix pomatia harvested in Poland. One hundred and 24 samples of Helix pomatia meat collected from seven provinces (voivodeships) of Poland were analyzed for their trace metal levels by graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometry (GFAAS). The research was conducted in 2 stages. The 1st stage analyzed snail meat prior to any further technological treatment (raw meat). In the 2nd stage, the trace element levels were measured in meat subjected to technological treatment (processed meat). The trace element contents in raw meat samples ranged from 0.06 mg kg(-1) to 0.22 mg kg(-1) for Cd and from 0.06 mg kg(-1) to 0.18 mg kg(-1) for Pb. The analyses revealed an increase in the cadmium content from 0.12 mg kg(-1) to 0.18 mg kg(-1) in thermally treated snail meat and no changes in lead concentration during the two-stage heat treatment. Regulation (EC) 1881/2006 does not specify the Cd and Pb residue limits in meat of terrestrial edible snails. The limits are set for invertebrate aquatic organisms meat (i.e. shellfish, mollusc, cephalopod) and range from 0.5 mg/kg to 1.5 mg/kg of tissue fresh weight for Pb and from 0.5 mg kg(-1) to 1 mg kg(-1) for Cd (EU Commission 2006). The results demonstrate that the land snail Helix pomatia has a tendency to bioaccumulate trace elements, and the cooking process is likely to affect (increase) the Cd content in the snail meat.