Monitoring of metal content in the tissues of wild boar (Sus scrofa) and its food safety aspect

The study was performed on 10 female and 10 male wild boars (Sus scrofa) after shooting during the regular hunting season to investigate the concentration of metals in the muscle and fat tissue. The concentrations of essential and non-essential elements were determined (arsenic (As), cadmium (Cd), chromium (Cr), copper (Cu), lead (Pb), manganese (Mn), mercury (Hg), and zinc (Zn)) using inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry. The concentrations of As, Hg, and Cd were below the limit of detection (As, Hg: < 0.5 mg/kg, Cd: < 0.05 mg/kg) in every tissue sample of both sexes. The lead was detected as 0.36 ± 0.16 mg/kg and 0.22 ± 0.06 mg/kg in the muscle of females and males, respectively, showing a significant difference between the sexes (p = 0.0184). The measured concentration of Cr was 0.14 ± 0.08 mg/kg and 0.13 ± 0.06 mg/kg, and that of copper was 1.22 ± 0.14 mg/kg and 1.06 ± 0.16 mg/kg in the muscle of females and males, respectively. The same tendency was observed in the case of copper content of fat tissues (female: 0.13 ± 0.10 mg/kg; male: 0.13 ± 0.04 mg/kg; p = 0.2707). Manganese concentration of muscle was 0.45 ± 0.30 mg/kg (female) and 1.36 ± 0.96 mg/kg (male), and that of fat tissue was 0.32 ± 0.22 mg/kg (female) and 0.74 ± 0.75 mg/kg (male). The Zn was detected as 56.75 ± 7.86 mg/kg and 1.83 ± 0.76 mg/kg in the muscle and fat of females and 52.12 ± 11.51 mg/kg and 1.94 ± 0.57 mg/kg in males, respectively. Based on data, the consumption of fat and muscle tissues of the wild boars tested can be food toxicologically objectionable, mainly due to the lead content, and thus pose a risk to frequent consumers of this type of game meat.