Detection of Lead Heavy Metal Contamination in Eggs of Duck and Free-Range Chicken

Lead heavy metal contamination is increasingly widespread in water, soil, and air, as well as livestock residing in a lead-polluted environment face potential exposure, which could extend to their products.Therefore, this study aimed to determine the presence of lead contamination in eggs of duck and free-range chicken.The samples included 30 eggs of duck and free-range chicken taken from several markets in Denpasar City.Eggs were processed to check for the presence of lead heavy metal and the measurement was carried out using the atomic absorption spectrophotometer (AAS) method at the Analytical Laboratory of Udayana University.The results showed that there were 4 duck eggs containing lead heavy metal with levels of 5.241 ppm, 2.434 ppm, 1.021 ppm, and 0.543 ppm, respectively.However, no contamination was detected in all free-range chicken eggs samples.This indicated that the prevalence of duck eggs exposed to lead was 13.33%, and certain contamination levels exceeded the maximum threshold for food, namely 1.00 ppm.This exposure stemmed from duck reared in lead-polluted areas.Further investigation was needed on the factors related to lead exposure in duck eggs.For egg consumers, based on the results, it was safer to select chicken eggs compared to duck eggs.