Study of food safety of sheep meat, grown on environmentally unfavorable territories

The paper presents data on the environmental assessment of agricultural areas, namely: the content of radioactive elements Cs-137 and natural radionuclides (NRN) - Ra-226, Th-232 and K-40 in environmental objects (soil, vegetation and water), the content heavy metals (Pb, Cd, As, Hg) and radionuclides Cs-137 and Sr-90 in raw meat of small ruminants (MRC). Samples of environmental objects (soil, vegetation, water) and meat samples were taken on the territory of the Abai Region adjacent to the Semipalatinsk nuclear test site (SNTS). The study areas are classified as areas of maximum radiation risk due to radioactive fallout during nuclear weapons testing. In the course of the gamma-spectrometric measurements of soil, vegetation and water samples of the studied territories, the levels of activity of Cs-137 and natural radionuclides (NRN) - Ra-226, Th-232 and K-40 were revealed. The following conclusion can be drawn: the levels of gamma-emitting radionuclides (in particular, Cs-137, Ra-226, Th-232 and K-40) in environmental objects outside the SNTS territory are comparable to global levels. In the course of the study, it was revealed that the content of heavy metals in meat does not exceed the normatively established values. A decrease in the levels of toxic elements and radionuclides in meat during its heat treatment was established. Thus, the level of lead in meat decreased from 0.29 to 0.12 mg/kg, cadmium from 0.03 to 0.013 mg/kg, arsenic from 0.066 to 0.055 mg/kg, respectively. Long-term heat treatment reduced the level of Cs-137 and Sr-90 radionuclides from 3.564 to 1.075 Bq/kg and from 0.02 to 0.012 Bq/kg, respectively. The greatest decrease in the levels of toxicity and radionuclides is observed during prolonged heat treatment (boiling or stewing for more than 2 hours).