Resumen de Potential risk of Pb to children's health from consumption of cow’s milk in areas irrigated with river water contaminated by mining activity

Edith Orellana, Carolina Bastos, Bertha Sotelo, Vicky Sarapura, María Custodio Villanueva, Walter Cuadrado

• The contamination of food by heavy metals in areas irrigated with contaminated water is of great concern due to the potential risk to human health. To assess the potential risk of Pb to children's health from consumption of cow's milk in an area of the Mantaro Valley during 2018. Fifty-one children exposed to Pb and eight samples of raw cow's milk were selected. Pb concentrations were analyzed with the atomic absorption spectrometer. The mean Pb content in milk was 0.236 ± 0.057 mg.kg-1, which exceeded the limits allowed by the Codex Alimentarius. The estimated daily intake of lead was 5.9 x 10-3 mg.kg-1day-1; the estimated risk index (HQ) was below one, which represents a low risk for children. The cancer risk was below 1.0 x 10-4. It is therefore concluded that there is no significant risk to children's health from consumption of cow's milk.