en Food Safety and Hygiene Food Safety and Hygiene پژوهشي Original Article <span style="font-size:14px;"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;"><span style="line-height:107%"><b><span style="line-height:107%"><span style="color:black">Background:</span></span></b><span style="line-height:107%"><span style="color:black"> Lead and cadmium can enter the human body through consuming the liver of animals such as sheep, which may accumulate and cause adverse effects.</span></span> <span style="line-height:107%"><span style="color:black">The levels of lead and cadmium in the liver samples of slaughtered sheep in Zanjan and Sanandaj were investigated in the summer of 2014.</span></span></span><br> <span style="line-height:107%"><b><span style="line-height:107%"><span style="color:black">Methods:</span></span></b><span style="line-height:107%"><span style="color:black"> 96 Samples were collected from both cities. Lead and cadmium levels were measured by anodic stripping voltammetry (ASV) after digestion with nitric acid and hydrogen peroxide in 3 steps</span></span> <span style="line-height:107%">by</span> <span style="line-height:107%"><span style="color:black">a 400-watt microwave digester. </span>L<span style="color:black">ead and cadmium concentrations were determined in &micro;g/L</span></span> <span style="line-height:107%"><span style="color:black">using standard solutions of lead and cadmium as standard addition in their specific potential, -0.42 and -0.58 V for lead and cadmium, respectively. &nbsp;</span></span></span><br> <span style="line-height:107%"><b><span style="line-height:107%"><span style="color:black">Results:</span></span></b><span style="line-height:107%"><span style="color:black"> Mean values of cadmium in the livers of sheep in &nbsp;Zanjan and Sanandaj were 0.42 &plusmn; 0.13 and 0.35 &plusmn; 0.13 mg/kg, respectively, which had no significant difference (<i>P <</i>0.05). On the other hand, mean concentrations of lead in the livers of sheep in Zanjan and Sanandaj &nbsp;were equal to 3.69 &plusmn; 1.43 and 2.36 &plusmn; 0.18 mg/kg, respectively, which had a significant difference <i>(P<</i>0.05<i>)</i>.</span></span></span><br> <span style="line-height:107%"><b><span style="line-height:107%"><span style="color:black">Conclusion:</span></span></b><span style="line-height:107%"><span style="color:black"> The concentrations of lead and cadmium in the livers of sheep were higher than WHO standards. However, only the lead levels were higher than</span></span> <span style="line-height:107%">the m<span style="color:black">aximum residue levels (MRLs) standard lists. The obtained results can be due to the activities of lead industries and factories in both cities, which may increase pollution levels in the water, air, and animal feed.</span></span></span></span></span><br> <span dir="RTL"></span> Cadmium, Lead, Liver, Polarographl, Sheep, 27 34 http://jhehp.zums.ac.ir/browse.php?a_code=A-10-390-1&slc_lang=en&sid=1 Saman Skandari sami9760@yahoo.com 100319475328460011812 0000000236955795 No Department of Food and Drug Control, School of Pharmacy, Zanjan University of Medical Sciences, Zanjan, Iran. Saeed Rezaee rezaees@zums.ac.ir 100319475328460011813 0000000190099590 No Department of Pharmaceutics, School of Pharmacy, Zanjan University of Medical Sciences, Zanjan, Iran. Farideh Dinmohammadi dinmohammadif@zums.ac.ir 100319475328460011814 0000000217246096 No Physicochemical and Microbial Control Lab, School of Pharmacy, Zanjan University of Medical Sciences, Zanjan, Iran. Mehran Mohseni mohsenim@zums.ac.ir 100319475328460011815 0000000271524616 Yes Department of Food and Drug Control, School of Pharmacy, Zanjan University of Medical Sciences, Zanjan, Iran.