casts_by_fly
Well-Known Member
This is correct on the liver. If you read my note a page or two back about absorption into fatty tissue that's what's happening there. The liver is the filter of the body and it also has a bunch of fatty tissue surrounding it (and in it). So organic chemicals that don't dissolve in water well end up accumulating there. PFAS and PCBs are two. Heavy metals also will accumulate there and in the kidneys.There were some studies done on deer in New Hampshire and they found cadmium and PFAS in deer liver but not in the muscle. They felt nasties were only found in the liver due to it being the bodies filter.
If you are in an area with high levels of pollution I would stay away from the livers as they probably concentrate other chemicals/elements as well.
Deer Meat Safety Precautions
www.wildlife.nh.gov
Interesting, I just ate my first bit of venison liver this morning and loved it. That's a shame it may be the most contaminated part... i was hoping venison liver would be like grass-fed beef liver, full of minerals and vitamins. it was from a yearling button buck.
I wouldn't worry about eating one liver from a young deer. Like you said, liver is full of vitamins and minerals- because its filtered them out of everything the deer has eaten and its accumulated there.