**1. Introduction**

Problems concerning heavy metals are studied all over the world, including in Europe. This is because they constitute one of the threats to the natural environment and the health of living organisms, and thus pose a problem in the implementation of the concept of sustainable development [1, 2].

In the accepted classification of elements participating in life processes, heavy metals, such as mercury, lead, and cadmium, do not play any significant role in

metabolism. They are considered to belong to the group of extreme toxicants with known embryotoxic, teratogenic, mutagenic, and carcinogenic effects. Even in trace amounts, they pose a real threat to living organisms. In the natural environment, there are also other heavy metals, such as arsenic, zinc, nickel, copper, which are also toxic and may cause poisoning and cancer. The effects of heavy metals entering the human body can be revealed even after many years [3].

In the past, the danger resulting from the presence of these metals in the environment concerned only certain groups of people employed in specialized branches of industry. Currently, as a result of development and civilization changes, toxic elements may appear in high concentrations far beyond the sources of contamination. This violates the biological balance of ecosystems, and their presence in the trophic chain creates exposure conditions for wide groups of the population [3].

The sources of contamination of the environment with heavy metals are the mining industry and mechanical, thermal, and chemical processing of mineral raw materials. Other important sources of emission of metallic elements are large-scale burning of coal, gases, and liquid fuels (motorization), municipal economy (waste dumps, sewage), and agriculture consuming mineral fertilizers, plant protection agents, utilizing huge loads of pollution accompanying animal production and processing industry. Monitoring studies of soils, drinking water, plants, as well as tissues of farm animals and products of animal origin (milk, eggs, honey) indicate considerable variability of heavy metal concentrations in this material, from trace to many times exceeding permissible values. In the case of animals, it depends on the animal species, life stage, husbandry system, and location of the breeding facility [3–8].

It has been repeatedly shown that mineral fertilizers have heavy metals in their composition, which lead to soil pollution. Fertilizers can be ranked in ascending order of heavy metal contamination—nitrogenous, potassic, calcareous, and phosphatic. The accumulation of these elements in the fertilizer material depends primarily on the technology used and the material from which they are produced (**Table 1**) [7, 9, 10].

Agriculture is the dominant land-use industry where large amounts of agrochemicals are applied. Unfortunately, metals and pesticides in the soil can reach aquatic ecosystems through leaching, soil erosion, and surface runoff [11]. The combination of heavy metals with pesticides is very dangerous because they can cause very serious health consequences for humans and animals. They contribute to neurodegenerative disorders, musculoskeletal diseases, and hormonal imbalances, are carcinogenic, cause genetic damage [12].


#### **Table 1.**

*Agricultural sources of heavy metals contamination in soils (ppm DW).*

*Influence of Heavy Metals on Quality of Raw Materials, Animal Products, and Human… DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.102497*

Therefore, the aim of the chapter is to present the problems of environmental pollution and accumulation of heavy metals (mainly cadmium, mercury, and lead) in tissues of farm animals, their impact on human and animal health, as well as the possibility of inactivation of heavy metals in animal organisms.
