Evaluation of Essential Metals and Arsenic in Poultry Feeds and Litters of Different Poultry Farms

Abstract

The current study was aim to evaluate the speciation of arsenic (total arsenic “TAs”, arsenite “As^III” and arsenate “As^V”) and total contents of essential metals in the feeds and litters of branded poultry feed using farms (BPF) and non-branded poultry feed utilizing farms (NBPF) at Hyderabad Sindh, Pakistan. The TAs and essential metals determined by graphite furnace and flame atomic absorption spectrometry (GF and FAAS), respectively. Whereas, the As^III and As^V separated by solvent extraction followed by GF-AAS. The high levels of sodium, potassium, and zinc were observed in branded poultry feeds whilst calcium and iron contents were higher in non-branded poultry feed. The contents of total arsenic in poultry feed samples of both branded and non-branded poultry feed utilizing farms were within the NRC permissible limits (30.0 mg/kg) except NBPF-1 and NBPF-4. Total As in all poultry litter samples were found under the permitted monthly average dose of As (41.0 mg/kg) for agronomical application expert poultry litter samples of BPF-1, NPBF-2, and NPBF-3. The daily accumulation of total As from feed to boilers were also studied.