Bovine meat and offal as a source of human exposure to cadmium in the Czech Republic

An evaluation of cadmium content in the muscle, liver and kidneys of young bovine animals (under two years of age) and cows was conducted in the Czech Republic during the period 1993-2010. The average cadmium content in the muscle of young bovine animals and cows was approximately the same (i.e. 0.007 and 0.008 mg.kg-1 wet weight, respectively) during the aforementioned period. The liver of cows showed a statistically insignificant higher average cadmium content (0.111 mg.kg-1 wet weight) in comparison with the liver of young bovine animals (0.079 mg.kg-1 wet weight). A statistically significant difference was detected in the average cadmium content in cows’ kidneys between 1993-1994 and 2009-2010 (0.454 and 0.799 mg.kg-1 wet weight, respectively) at the significance level of α = 0.05. A statistically significant trend of an increase in cadmium content in cows’ kidneys between 1993-1994 and 2009-2010 at the significance level of α = 0.05 was also detected.