Italian Beef is Not a Source of Potentially Toxic Elements for General Population: Updated Evidence

Chronic dietary exposure to potentially toxic elements (PTE) remains a major food safety concern due to their persistence, bioaccumulation, and potential to induce carcinogenic and non-carcinogenic effects [1]. In this context, meat can act as a vector for heavy metals and metalloids. In Italy, comprehensive occurrence data for bovine meat covering a broad spectrum of PTE—including emerging contaminants such as rare earth elements (REEs) whose environmental background levels are increasing due to expanding technological applications—and probabilistic dietary exposure assessments across population age classes are still limited, even though such data are essential to support accurate risk assessment. The present study aimed to determine the occurrence of 12 metals and metalloids (Al, As, Cd, Cr, Cu, Fe, Hg, Ni, Pb, Sn, U, Zn) and 14 REEs in Italian bovine meat and to perform for the first time probabilistic dietary exposure assessment and risk characterization across different population age groups. A total of 144 diaphragm muscles were collected at slaughter from cattle reared in central-northern Italy (Piedmont, Veneto, and Tuscany). Total Hg was quantified by atomic absorption spectroscopy, while the remaining elements by inductively coupled plasma–mass spectrometry using internally validated methods. Chronic exposure through beef consumption was estimated for Italian infants, toddlers, children, adolescents, adults, and the elderly using advanced probabilistic methods, and risk was characterized by comparison with internationally established toxicological references [2, 3]. Zn, Fe, and Cu were the most abundant elements (1.1–58.4 mg/kg), whereas most REEs and U occurred at ultra-trace levels (0.0012–0.0738 mg/kg). Pb and Cd concentrations were consistently below European maximum levels [4], and no regulatory exceedances were observed. Total REE exposure was extremely low across all age groups (<0.008 µg/kg bw/day), and exposure to Al, Cd, Cr, Cu, Hg, Ni, Pb, Sn, and U through beef consumption was markedly below the corresponding toxicological references, indicating a low level of health concern. Conversely, in highly exposed children, beef contributed to 81% and 23% of the toxicological references of Zn, and Fe (Figure 1). The most concerning situation was observed for inorganic As, conservatively assumed to account for 100% of total measured As, as high-consumption scenarios resulted in margins of exposure ≤10 across age groups (Figure 1). In conclusion, beef consumption does not represent a risk for the general population with respect to the intake of the investigated PTE. Nevertheless, in high consumers, exposure to Zn, Fe, and inorganic As may be significant, underscoring the need for integrated strategies combining dietary guidance and contamination reduction along the food chain to safeguard vulnerable populations. [1] M. Jaishankar, T. Tseten, N. Anbalagan, B. B. Mathew, and K. N. Beeregowda. “Toxicity, mechanism and health effects of some heavy met-als”. Interdiscip. Toxicol., vol. 7, pp. 60–72, 2014. [2] EFSA. “EFSA Comprehensive European Food Consumption Database”, 2026. https://www.efsa.europa.eu/en/data-report/food-consumption-data. [3] WHO. “Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA) Database”, 2026. https://apps.who.int/food-additives-contaminants-jecfa-database. [4] European Union. “Commission Regulation (EU) No. 2023/915 of 25 April 2023 on maximum levels for certain contaminants in food and repealing Regulation (EC) No. 1881/2006”. Off. J. Eur. Union, L. 119, pp. 103–157, 2023.