The Heavy Metal Content in Chicken Eggs Consumed in Van Lake Territory

This study was conducted to determine some heavy metal concentrations of eggs obtained from Van lake territory. Samples of hen egg were collected from 27 farms distributed in Van province, Turkey to analyze the contents of Zn, Cu, Cd, Mn, and Ni in albumen and yolk with Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometer (AAS). The average concentrations of heavy metals were found as follows: Zn: 35.6 ppm and 42.2 ppm in yolk, 4.3 ppm and 7.4 ppm in albumen; Cu: 2.7 ppm and 10.5 ppm in yolk, 7.0 ppm and 1.5 ppm in albumen; Cd: 0.34 ppm and 1.24 ppm in yolk, 0.31 ppm and 1.25 ppm in albumen; Mn: 1.9 ppm and 6.8 ppm in yolk, 2.0 ppm and 4.5 ppm in albumen; Ni: 1.7 ppm and 3.1 ppm in yolk, 2.8 ppm and 3.7 ppm in albumen respectively. The calculated amounts of Cd in hen egg suggest that the eggs are safe in terms of four metals when compared with WHO-FAO provisional tolerated amount. Eggs are rich sources of Zn, Cu, Mn, and Ni generally.