determination of trace elements levels in different tissues of goat and sheep slaughtered in birjand city

owing to its wholesomeness and good taste, meat of goats and sheep is the most important human food resource. so, monitoring levels of mineral concentrations in animal tissues is important for assessing the effect of contamination on animal health and safety of animal origin products in human nutrition. this study was performed to monitor the metals levels of copper, zinc and chromium in liver, kidney and muscle of goats and sheep slaughtered in the city of birjand with attention given to hygienic and toxicological aspects. the elements content in different tissues of goats and sheep were determined using flame atomic absorption spectrophotometer. statistical analysis of data were performed with spss software and significance difference were considered with p value below 0.05.the results of this study showed that the liver and kidney had the highest levels of metals while the muscles were in the lowest levels metals. also, a difference was observed between same tissues of goats and sheep in terms of the amount of metals. with attention to results all the copper and zinc values in the all samples were below and chromium content in the all samples was higher than the permissible limit set by anzfa.