Extent of Heavy Metal Toxicity in the Diet of School Boys of Ludhiana

The study was conducted on sixty school boys selected each from industrial and countryside area of Ludhiana city. The daily intake of lead was 162.32±19.1 ug/day in respondents of experimental group and 19.27±4.3 ug/day in control group. The mean daily intake of cadmium was 19.27±4.3 ug/day and 13.05± respectively for experimental and control groups. The intakes of Pb and Cd of the respondents of experimental group were close to the provisional tolerable daily intake as recommended by FACO/WHO (1972). The amount of Nickel ranged from 2.06±0.11 and 4.00+0.12 mg respectively in control and experimental group. The zinc content ranged from 14.63±4.1 and 21.87 ± 2.3 mg in control and experimental group. The copper content was found almost equal in experimental and control group. The hexavalent chrome (Cr⁵⁺) was found 08±0.02 to 18±0.06 ppm in control and experimental group.