Peter E. Nye , Samantha Totoni , Karyn L. Bischoff
{"title":"Assessing Lead Levels in New York-Donated Venison","authors":"Peter E. Nye , Samantha Totoni , Karyn L. Bischoff","doi":"10.1016/j.jfp.2025.100556","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Lead (Pb) hunting ammunition is known to fragment in target animals and result in Pb particles with small surface areas, which increase bioavailability and make detection more difficult. Dietary exposure to Pb presents significant human health risks to vulnerable groups, especially children and pregnant women. Each year, 34 tons of venison are donated to New York State food banks and pantries without oversight of the potential for Pb contamination. A project was launched in 2022 to sample donated venison and to determine if and at what concentration this meat might be contaminated with Pb. Tests for Pb were first conducted by medical radiography (X-ray) of 0.45 kg (1 lb) and 0.91 kg (2 lb) samples followed by subsampling for quantitative analysis using inductively coupled atomic plasma emission spectroscopy (ICP-AES). Among venison packages, 19% (11/ 59) were confirmed to contain metal fragments via radiography and/or Pb via ICP-AES. This includes seven packages with observable metal fragments via X-ray, three packages with suspected metal fragments via X-ray and detected via ICP-AES and one package with no radiographic evidence of Pb, but detected via ICP-AES. Pb concentrations among package subsamples ranged from 0.38 to 135.7 mg/kg dry matter, representing a range from 1 to 617% of the FDA Interim Reference Level (IRL) of 2.2 µg Pb/day for children. Although some states routinely radiograph venison donated to food banks and pantries prior to distribution, New York State does not. Most New York State food pantries also do not postwarnings of the potential for Pb contamination in donated game meat. In conclusion, there is a high likelihood that people consuming donated hunted meat in NY will consume lead, and the FDA IRL may be exceeded in a single bite.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":15903,"journal":{"name":"Journal of food protection","volume":"88 8","pages":"Article 100556"},"PeriodicalIF":2.8000,"publicationDate":"2025-06-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Journal of food protection","FirstCategoryId":"97","ListUrlMain":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0362028X25001085","RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q3","JCRName":"BIOTECHNOLOGY & APPLIED MICROBIOLOGY","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Lead (Pb) hunting ammunition is known to fragment in target animals and result in Pb particles with small surface areas, which increase bioavailability and make detection more difficult. Dietary exposure to Pb presents significant human health risks to vulnerable groups, especially children and pregnant women. Each year, 34 tons of venison are donated to New York State food banks and pantries without oversight of the potential for Pb contamination. A project was launched in 2022 to sample donated venison and to determine if and at what concentration this meat might be contaminated with Pb. Tests for Pb were first conducted by medical radiography (X-ray) of 0.45 kg (1 lb) and 0.91 kg (2 lb) samples followed by subsampling for quantitative analysis using inductively coupled atomic plasma emission spectroscopy (ICP-AES). Among venison packages, 19% (11/ 59) were confirmed to contain metal fragments via radiography and/or Pb via ICP-AES. This includes seven packages with observable metal fragments via X-ray, three packages with suspected metal fragments via X-ray and detected via ICP-AES and one package with no radiographic evidence of Pb, but detected via ICP-AES. Pb concentrations among package subsamples ranged from 0.38 to 135.7 mg/kg dry matter, representing a range from 1 to 617% of the FDA Interim Reference Level (IRL) of 2.2 µg Pb/day for children. Although some states routinely radiograph venison donated to food banks and pantries prior to distribution, New York State does not. Most New York State food pantries also do not postwarnings of the potential for Pb contamination in donated game meat. In conclusion, there is a high likelihood that people consuming donated hunted meat in NY will consume lead, and the FDA IRL may be exceeded in a single bite.
期刊介绍:
The Journal of Food Protection® (JFP) is an international, monthly scientific journal in the English language published by the International Association for Food Protection (IAFP). JFP publishes research and review articles on all aspects of food protection and safety. Major emphases of JFP are placed on studies dealing with:
Tracking, detecting (including traditional, molecular, and real-time), inactivating, and controlling food-related hazards, including microorganisms (including antibiotic resistance), microbial (mycotoxins, seafood toxins) and non-microbial toxins (heavy metals, pesticides, veterinary drug residues, migrants from food packaging, and processing contaminants), allergens and pests (insects, rodents) in human food, pet food and animal feed throughout the food chain;
Microbiological food quality and traditional/novel methods to assay microbiological food quality;
Prevention of food-related hazards and food spoilage through food preservatives and thermal/non-thermal processes, including process validation;
Food fermentations and food-related probiotics;
Safe food handling practices during pre-harvest, harvest, post-harvest, distribution and consumption, including food safety education for retailers, foodservice, and consumers;
Risk assessments for food-related hazards;
Economic impact of food-related hazards, foodborne illness, food loss, food spoilage, and adulterated foods;
Food fraud, food authentication, food defense, and foodborne disease outbreak investigations.