| Abstract: | p, p'-DDT, HEOD, endrin, heptachlor epoxide, hexachlorobenzene and lindane were fed in combination to day-old broiler chickens at levels of 0.05, 0.15 and 0.30 part/million in the feed, for a period of about 7 weeks. Birds were killed at regular intervals and samples of abdominal fat and other tissues examined for residues of the chlorinated pesticides by gas-liquid chromatography. The lipid content of each sample was determined and the residue levels calculated for the whole tissue and also for the fat contained in the sample. At the end of the 7 weeks (when in practice broilers are slaughtered) residues were highest for heptachlor epoxide, followed by hexachlorobenzene, HEOD, DDT (total), endrin, and lindane. Heptachlor epoxide residue levels in fat were 13 times the levels in the feed, for lindane the ratio was 3.3. Fat residues of each pesticide reached a plateau level relatively quickly, and these levels were proportional to the fortification rates in the feed. HEOD and p, p'-DDT alone were fed to separate groups of birds. No differences in residue build-up of these compounds were found between these groups and the groups that had received these compounds in combination with the other pesticides. The total amounts of each pesticide in the tissues were reduced when the meat was fried, probably by loss of fat during preparation and frying. For p, p'-DDT and heptachlor epoxide also smaller residue were observed in the remaining fat after frying. |
