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Effects of Feeding Arsenic and Lead upon Their Secretion in Milk¹

Department of Dairy Science, Florida Agricultural Experiment Station, Gainesville, Florida

F. W. Hayward and W. R. Meagher

Citrus Experiment Station, Florida Agricultural Experiment Station, Lake Alfred, Florida

ABSTRACT

Information has not been observed on the influence of continuous feeding to cows of relatively low levels of arsenic and lead upon the secretion of these elements in milk. Bovine milk has been reported to contain 0.032 to 0.060 mg/liter of arsenic, with the concentration being somewhat higher in colostrum (5). Milk from one cow late in lactation was found to contain 0.02 mg/kg of lead (1), whereas Kehoe et al. (6) reported the lead content of three milk samples ranging from 0.02 to 0.04 mg/kg.

Both the arsenic and lead contents of cow's milk have been increased by the oral intake of large quantities of these elements. On an area where land and water were contaminated with arsenic, and illness and death of cattle where attributed to arsenic toxicity, milk samples from cows contained from 0.8 to 1.5 mg/liter of arsenic (4). Drenching a lactating heifer daily with 0.3428 g of As₂O₃ as sodium arsenite for three days did not cause an increase in milk arsenic over the predrenching level of 0.23 to 0.27 mg/liter, but did increase the concentration in urine (3).

¹ Florida Agricultural Experiment Stations Journal Series No. 1646.