Czech J. Anim. Sci., 48, 2003 (11): 481–486 Original Paper 481 Increased awareness of the influence of diets on human health has prompted producers to produce food of higher quality, rich in nutrients and nu- traceuticals, in environmentally friendly manner. On the other hand, raw materials for food pro- duction are getting poor in essential minerals and vitamins at the same time. Milk and dairy products have been recognized all over the world for a long time as good for their sensory properties, but also for their beneficial in- fluence on human health (Steijns, 2001). On the other hand, milk is an expensive raw material pro- duced by animals (Boland et al., 2001). To produce milk or to make its products of good quality and to reduce their price, a good raw material is needed. erefore constant control of raw milk bought from farms is necessary. Milk should be controlled not only for fat and proteins as it is usual, but also for mineral content whenever possible. Milk is known as an excellent source of Ca, and it can supply moderate amounts of Mg, smaller amounts of Zn and very small amounts of Fe and Cu (Levy et al., 1985; Pennigton et al., 1987, 1995a,b). erefore the essential metals are inter- esting for determination of their adequate daily intake by the organism. On the other hand, due to the growing environmental pollution it is also necessary to determine and monitor the levels of toxic metals in milk, such as lead and cadmium, because they can significantly influence the human and animal health (Steijns, 2001). e most frequently used technique to deter- mine metals in food and biological materials is atomic absorption spectrophotometry (AAS). If the concentrations of metals are high enough, AAS determinations are usually done by flame atomic absorption spectrophotometry (FA-AAS). When the concentrations of metals are low, electrothermal atomic absorption spectrophotometry (EA-AAS) is applied. Both techniques should give the same results if the concentration of metals is above the detection limit of FA-AAS (Jorhem, 1993). Because of low industrial production Croatia has a unique opportunity to produce milk rich in nu- tritional elements and with very low levels of toxic substances at the same time. In order to determine Determination of metals in cow’s milk by flame atomic absorption spectrophotometry M. SIKIRIĆ 1 , N. BRAJENOVIĆ 1 , I. PAVLOVIĆ 2 , J. L. HAVRANEK 2 , N. PLAVLJANIĆ 2 1 Ruđer Bošković Institute, Zagreb, Croatia 2 Faculty of Agriculture, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia ABSTRACT: e essential (Ca, Cu, Fe, Mg, Mn, Zn) and toxic metals (Pb and Cd) were determined by flame atomic absorption spectrophotometry (FA-AAS) in raw cow’s milk. Milk was sampled four times in March 2000 on fifteen farms near Križ in the Zagreb region from bulk milk directly into plastic bottles (to avoid contamina- tion). e raw cow’s milk samples were digested in an MLS-1200 Mega Microwave Digestion System with MDR Technology, and the metals were determined directly by FA-AAS in the solutions of digested samples. Statistical analyses were performed using statistical software SAS v. 8.0. Contents of essential minerals (Ca, Cu, Fe, Mg, Mn, Zn) in milk from Croatian farms are on the normal levels in comparison with the data from other countries. e level of toxic metals (Pb and Cd) was lower than the tolerance level defined by Croatian regulations (Pb < 100 µg/l and Cd < 10 µg/l). Keywords: lead; cadmium; copper; iron; manganese; magnesium; calcium; raw cow’s milk; flame atomic absorption spectrophotometry