Dietary Intake of Metals from Fresh Cage-Reared Hens’ Eggs in Tenerife, Canary Islands

Abstract

The concentrations of 20 metals (Na, K, Ca, Mg, V, Mn, Fe, Cu, Zn, Cr, Mo, Co, B, Ba, Sr, Ni, Si, Al, Pb, and Cd) in cage-reared hens’ eggs have been determined in this study using inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectroscopy (ICP-OES). There were significant differences in the metal content depending on the edible part of the egg, with the yolk having the greater concentrations of metals. The daily consumption of eggs (24.3 g/person/day for children and 31.2 g/person/day for adults) contributes to the intake of trace metals, notably Fe (3.8% children, 3.2% women, and 6.5% men) and Zn (4.5% children, 6.6% women, and 4.9% men). In addition, the consumption of eggs does not imply a high contribution of toxic metals.