Investigation of macro, micro and toxic element concentrations of milk and fermented milks products by using an inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometer, to improve food safety in Turkey

In this study, the quantification of macro, micro and toxic elements in milk and its products was carried out using inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry (ICP-OES) after using sample preparation procedures (wet digestion, dry digestion, and microwave digestion). Samples were collected from farms and markets in Edirne, Turkey. Ca, Mg, Na, K, Cu, Fe, Mn, Zn, Al, and Ba concentrations in the farm milk and its products ranged from 823 to 1499, 109-476, 218-1498, 905-1694, 0.094-0.26, 2.0-3.7, 0.014-0.105, 1.2-5.2, 0.192-0.35 and 0.075-0.191 mg kg− 1 respectively. The results in commercial milk and milk based products (minimum-maximum in mg·kg− 1) were: Ca 791-1518, Mg 107-518, Na 221-1594, K 901-1692, Cu 0.068-0.23, Fe 2.2-4, Mn 0.019-0.087, Zn 2-5, Al 0.124-0.40 and 0.080-0.197. Macro, micro and toxic element contents of the commercial milk and its products in this study generally were higher than that of the natural samples. However, a tolerable daily diet of these elements by the Trakya region is well below the Turkish Food Codex (TFC) levels of macro, micro and toxic elements.