Risk assessment of nickel toxicity in rams in a semi-arid region using soil-plant and blood plasma samples as indicators

The present study was conducted at a livestock farm to assess whether the rams being reared therein are experiencing nickel (ni) toxicity. to fulfill this objective,blood plasma,forage and soil samples were collected four times each after 30 days interval and analyzed through wet digestion for determining ni concentration. the results showed a significant influence of sampling intervals on soil and forage ni level,but a non-significant effect on blood plasma ni. the values of soil and forage ni in this study were higher than the critical levels for these attributes. the blood plasma ni concentration was found to be much higher than the normal value for ruminants. thus,toxic effects of ni may be expected in the ruminants being reared at this farm. soil and forage ni levels were highly correlated,but the correlation between forage and blood plasma ni levels was poor. overall,blood plasma,soil and forage ni concentrations were higher than the normal reference values. so application of fertilizer containing ni to the soil of the farm as well as supplementation with ni for grazing ruminants should be avoided. copyright 2013 zoological society of pakistan.