Chicken meat, liver, eggs, and meat products are excellent sources of nutrients comprised of protein, minerals, essential fatty acids, and energy which are essential for the human body's development and growth. Chicken meat is the main part of our food because it is necessary for the nourishment of adults, young children, and infants. Moreover, it is easily digestible, easily accessible, and economical as compared to other meat [1, 2]. Doctors are also recommended due to the low glycemic index that helps to protect against the development of diabetes, cancer, and obesity[3]. Copper (Cu), manganese (Mn), nickel (Ni), selenium (Se), chromium (Cr), and zinc (Zn), are important to all living organisms as micronutrients [4]. They are crucial for the regulation of gene expression, enzymatic processes, ribozyme catalysis, ribosome activities, and energy metabolism [5-7]. Although heavy metals are necessary at low doses, the higher concentrations of heavy metals may be harmful to cellular function [7-9]. They become a significant risk to the brain, lungs, kidney, liver, gastrointestinal, cardiovascular, neurological, and normal cell cycle, especially among at-risk populations like young children and fetuses. [5,8, 10]. Various carcinogenic, mutagenic, and teratogenic effects of heavy metals on human health have been reported [3]. Reactive oxygen species (ROS) which in turn may cause oxidative DNA damage that may add to the pathology of various diseases that are generated by redox-active transition metals, including cadmium, chromium, and nickel. Acute leukemia, diabetes mellitus, diabetic neuropathy, hepatocellular carcinoma, breast cancer, Parkinson’s disease, and multiple sclerosis have all been linked to an accumulation of damaged DNA. The World Health Organization (WHO) and Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) established guidelines for recommended daily chicken meat intake to protect human health. These restrictions apply to both primary drugs and chemicals and any metabolites that may develop and become deposited or stored in cells, tissues, or organs after the compounds have been administered [7]. Considering the bio-magnification in the food chain, transmission in human organs, and causing toxicity to our health, heavy metal poisoning is a significant issue. Thus, it is necessary to critically examine how metal enters the human body through various pathways such as ingestion, inhalation, and skin contact[3]. Heavy metals have a longer lifetime, are less prone to disintegration and decomposition, and may deposit in various organs of the human body, which could have harmful side effects [11-13]. The demand for poultry meat and its products all over the world is increasing over time due to its nutritious value. New technologies, and significant formulation of chicken feed help in meeting the demand. Poultry meat has emerged as a significant source of animal protein with high levels of biological amino acids, vitamins, and all essential components of human nutrition for growth and body metabolism [14-16]. Despite the nutritional values given above, chickens are exposed continuously to heavy metal contaminants. The basic ways by which metals are entered into the chicken are poultry feed, drinking water, and processing methods. Heavy metals accumulate in various parts of chicken like the liver, gizzard, and heart, harm the chicken enzymatic system, feed refusal, and also cause weight loss, low hatchability, inhibit growth, organ failure, increased susceptibility to disease and stress, and finally cause death [17-18]. According to the literature, the primary route of heavy metals intake into the poultry tissues by feeds. The accumulation of heavy metals varies from one tissue to another [17-19], liver and kidneys are the two important organs for the detoxification and execration of harmful elements, but these two organs are the most damaged organs due to the excess of harmful elements in our food or feed of animals [1]. Instead, some dishonest merchants frequently add poisonous tannery waste to chicken feeds as a source of protein to achieve a quick profit [7]. A report found that due to its inexpensive availability, several chicken feed producers in Bangladesh have recently started using shaving dust from tannery companies as a source of protein. When hides and skins are treated with various chemicals and salts during different stages of the tanning process tannery waste accumulates an enormous amount of toxic metal and it poses a great concern to human health. Traditional chrome tanning uses basic chromium sulfate salt, of which 60% to 70% is consumed by hides and skins and 3.204% is present in chrome shaving dust. An investigation was conducted in southern Nigeria. The results obtained from that investigation are that for both adults (19-70 years old) and children (1-3 years old), the maximum tolerable Ni intake is 7 and 40 mg/day, respectively. Turkey meat samples taken from the Warri zone had the greatest mean level of Ni (20.78 mg.kg-1). The Nickel concentrations in these samples were below the maximum allowable intake amounts. A study was conducted to measure the concentrations of heavy metals (Cu, Zn, Co, Fe, Cr, Cd, Ni, and Pb) in the liver, kidney, pancreas, and meat of cows, buffaloes, goats, sheep, goats, chickens and other animals from Kohat Market in Pakistan. The concentration of heavy metals is found higher in the liver, and kidney as compared to other studies reported [20-21]. A report found that in Lahore, Pakistan, and Tamil Nadu, India several parts of the chicken were analyzed that contain high quantities of Cr [13]. Chromium (III) is an essential element if it is taken at a low concentration while chromium (IV) is carcinogenic [14]. The research used atomic absorption spectroscopy to identify the levels of heavy metals (Cr, Cd, Co, Pb, Cu, Ni, Fe, Zn, Mg, and Mn) in canned beef and four different chicken luncheons from Sulymaniah markets. Chromium content among corned beef brands showed a significant difference, whereas there was no significant difference in chromium content among the trademarks for all poultry luncheons. The iron (Fe) concentration for the corned beef trademarks A, B, C, and D, respectively, was 1.43, 5.41, 3, and 4.4 μg/gm. A and D had a minimal concentration of zinc whereas B and C had high zinc concentrations. Furthermore, compared to the G trademark, which had a considerably lower zinc concentration, the F trademark had a significantly higher zinc concentration [22]. Heavy metal contamination is considered a major threat to human health worldwide. In Pakistan, we are facing heavy metal pollution in our food products. Therefore, it is necessary to ensure food safety by knowing the extent of heavy metal content in poultry feed, meat and eggs [7].
The main objective of the present study was to evaluate the level of heavy metals (Lead, Cadmium, Chromium, and Nickel) in poultry chicken meat collected from different poultry shops in Skardu and compare it with frozen chicken meat. Skardu has a cold climate and cold climate affects the food habits of the inhabitants. Usually, in Skardu, people use foods that provide fat to warm their bodies in winter. That’s why meat consumption is very high.