Oliveira Filho, Emanuel Felipe deMiranda Castañón, Marta InésFerreiro, TaniaHerrero Latorre, CarlosCastro Soares, PierreLópez Alonso, María Marta2024-12-052024-12-052022de Oliveira Filho, E.F.; Miranda, M.; Ferreiro, T.; Herrero-Latorre, C.; Castro Soares, P.; López-Alonso, M. Concentrations of Essential Trace and Toxic Elements Associated with Production and Manufacturing Processes in Galician Cheese. Molecules 2022, 27, 4938. https://doi.org/10.3390/ molecules271549381420-3049https://hdl.handle.net/10347/38022The objective of this study was to determine the trace element composition and the toxic metal residues in Galician cow’s milk cheese produced in different systems (artisan, industrial, and organic). Fourteen elements (As, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, Hg, I, Mn, Mo, Ni, Pb, Se, and Zn) were determined in 58 representative samples of Galician cheeses by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. The toxic elements were present at low concentrations, similar to those reported for other unpolluted geographical areas. The essential elements were also within the normal range in cheeses. There were no statistically significant differences between smoked and unsmoked cheeses for any of the elements. Chemometric analyses (principal component analysis and cluster analysis) revealed that the industrial cheeses produced in Galicia using the milk from intensive dairy farms were different, in terms of elemental content, from artisan and organic cheeses, in which the elemental contents were similar.eng© 2022 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) licensehttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/CheeseEssential trace and toxic elementsChemometric analysisICP-MSGaliciajournal article10.3390/molecules27154938open access