Assessing the animals’ health risk arising from Cd, Pb, Ni, and Zn content in fodder corn grown in a farm treated with municipal solid waste compost—Case study: Iran

Abstract

The transference of heavy metals from forage to feeding animals is a crucial animal welfare issue. In this article, the effects of using municipal solid waste compost in corn cultivation on animal’s health were assessed. The study was run at the Soil and Water Research Institute of Iran and followed an incomplete strip block design composed of six treatments and three repeats. The treatments were control, with no fertilizer or municipal solid waste compost, multiple combinations of N, P, and K chemical fertilizers, and municipal solid waste compost which were used either once or twice a year. Mature corn plants (Single Cross 704) from the lowest collar were sampled during the end of summer 2019. Corn samples were examined for cadmium, lead, nickel, and zinc concentration. Using the Oracle Crystalball software, health risks were estimated for sheep, dairy cows, beef, broiler, and laying poultry. The highest exposure to cadmium, nickel, and zinc was observed in sheep feeding corn cultivated in T5 treatment, but the highest exposure to lead was observed in sheep fed with corn cultivated in T2 treatment. Cd, Pb, Ni, and Zn exposure and related risk indices were lower than the reported reference values. It can be concluded that the quality of fodder corn grown in the treatments in this study was within the safe range in terms of heavy metal content and did not threaten the health of the investigated animals.