Organochlorine pesticide residues in poultry feed, chicken muscle and eggs at a poultry farm in Punjab, India

• Published in: Journal of the science of food and agriculture Vol. 86; no. 5; pp. 741 - 744
• Main Authors: Aulakh, R.S, Gill, J.P.S, Bedi, J.S, Sharma, J.K, Joia, B.S, Ockerman, H.W
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Chichester, UK John Wiley & Sons, Ltd 15.04.2006; Wiley; John Wiley and Sons, Limited
• Subjects: Biological and medical sciences; chicken; chicken meat; chickens; DDT (pesticide); Egg and egg product industries; Eggs; endosulfan; endosulfan sulfate; Feed and pet food industries; feed contamination; Feeds; food contamination; Food contamination & poisoning; Food industries; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; GLC; HCH (pesticide); heptachlor; heptachlor epoxide; human food chain; longitudinal studies; maximum residue limits; monitoring; muscle tissues; Muscular system; on-farm research; organochlorine pesticides; pesticide residues; Pesticides; Poultry; poultry feed; poultry feeding; toxicity testing; India; Asia; Punjab India; eggs; Farming animal; Egg; Poultry; Pesticides; Vertebrata; Meat animals; poultry feed; Residue; Egg product; pesticide residues; Muscle; Chicken; Aves; Feed; GLC
• ISSN: 0022-5142; 1097-0010
• DOI: 10.1002/jsfa.2407

Animals intended for human food may absorb pesticides from residues in their feed, water or during direct/indirect exposure in the course of pest control. The objective of the present investigation was to monitor organochlorine pesticide residues in poultry feed, chicken muscle and eggs at a selected poultry farm. The samples were Soxhlet extracted for 8 h in 200 mL hexane-acetone (1:1, v/v) mixture. The clean-up of the samples was performed by silica gel column chromatography and analysis was done on a gas chromatograph equipped with an electron capture detector. The mean total hexachlorocyclohexane (HCH) and dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT), endosulfan sulfate and heptachlor epoxide residues were 0.65, 0.91, 0.42 and 0.02 mg kg-1, respectively, in feed while respective values for chicken muscle were 0.11, 0.24, 0.10 and 0.07 mg kg-1. Higher residues were encountered in eggs as compared to muscle. None of the muscle samples exceeded maximum residue limits (MRL) for organochlorine pesticides, while all egg samples had values above the MRL for HCH and heptachlor epoxide and seven egg samples exceeded MRL for DDT residues. The results indicated that poultry feed could be one of the major sources of contamination for chicken and eggs. These residues are present despite complete ban on the use of technical HCH and DDT for agricultural purposes in India.