Comparison of lead contamination in innards and muscle tissues of Bali cattle reared in Suwung Landfill

Innards parts are more widely consumed by the public than the muscle parts, or more commonly known as beef. People are aware that the innards contain a lot of cholesterol, but they do not aware about the content of heavy metal lead. This research aims to study lead contamination levels in offal and beef muscle contaminated with lead. A total of five cows with known lead contamination were slaughtered to be examined for the levels of lead. Viscera taken part including the liver, lungs and intestines, which are the commonly consumed part. While the muscle tissues taken were from the costae muscles, which is the tissues with the most blood flow. Level of lead contamination in the innards and muscle tissues were checked using Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometry (AAS) method. The result of the examination was obtained as such: liver = 0.76 ± 0.25 ppm; lung = 1.11 ± 0.08 ppm; intestinal = 0.90 ± 0.29 ppm; and muscle tissues = 0.69 ± 0.13 ppm respectively. It was found that the innards contain more lead than the muscle tissues. It is concluded that the muscle part is safer for consumption than in the innards. It is also suggested that there are the needs for random checks in beef and the innards sold in the market, especially for the presence of lead contamination.