摘要：The present study was conducted to investigate the quality of hen eggs in respect of mineral content and to elaborate the possibility of contamination of heavy metals and their distribution. The eggs were collected from surroundings of Tummalapalle Uranium mining site, India. The heavy metals (Al, Cr, Mn, Fe, Ni, Cu, Zn, Pb, V, Co, As, Cd and U) were estimated with the help of Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometer (ICP – MS) by following open acid digestion technique. Concentration of essential elements like Fe, Al and Zn were in the range of 34.4 – 98.3 mg/kg, 2.5 – 71.1 mg/kg and 3.9 – 63.0 mg/kg, respectively. Elements like U and Cd were in the range of 1.3 – 12.6 μg/kg and 2.3 – 15.4 μg/kg, respectively. The mean concentration of hen egg samples for all the estimated heavy metals are found to be below the permissible limit and are in comparison with the literature reported values from various parts of the world. Further, the estimated heavy metal data were subjected to statistical analysis like correlation matrices to examine the inter relationship between the investigated trace elements and source identification for the heavy metal contamination in hen eggs
关键词：eggs; heavy metals; uranium mining; ICP–MS; correlation
