Cadmium in pork and poultry liver in southern Poland

Samples of pork and poultry livers (ten samples of each type, purchased in southern Poland) were analyzed in order to determine the cadmium concentration. Wet digestion of the samples was carried out and the concentration of cadmium was measured by means of graphitefurnace atomic absorption spectrometry (GF-AAS). The mean values for pork and poultry livers were 79.3 µg/kg and 165.3 µg/kg, respectively. In one sample of poultry liver the Cd concentration was 1043 µg/kg, which is much more than the legal limit for the European Union (500 µg/kg). Statistical analysis showed that there was no significant difference in Cd concentration between the two groups of the samples, unless the highest result (1043 µg/kg) was considered an outlier.