Health Risk Assessment of Heavy Metals in Raw and Packed Milk from the Areas of Rawalpindi and Islamabad: A comparative study

Abstract: Milk is a complex of biomolecules and is a good source of proteins, fats, sugars, vitamins and minerals. Various types of milk available in the market are solid and liquid milk. Solid milk is available in the form of formula milk and liquid milk is raw and packed milk (branded milk) like GM1, OL2, Dp3, T4, H5, Mp6, DO7 and N8. Milk having different additive components like “micronutrients, vitamin and minerals” play a vital role in our daily life therefore it is by kids, adults and elders all over the world. The chemical composition of raw milk not only focuses on its components, but also the treatment, in the case of quality of the raw materials, packing, storage and conditions are very important. Cow milk is one of the major resources contaminated with different heavy metal atoms. Different samples of milk (raw and packed) were collected from diverse zone of Islamabad. The packed milk like GM1, OL2, Dp3, T4, H5, Mp6, DO7 and N8 were collected from different shops of Rawalpindi and Islamabad. Result showed the presence of different types of heavy metals in milk samples. The level of zinc in the raw milk samples was high in the Islamabad city as compared to Rawalpindi. The sequence of heavy metals present in fresh milk were detected as Zn> Cu> Cr> Pb and Cu. In packed milk, level of Chromium was different across the world.