Abstract
In the poultry industry, control of the red mite D. gallinae primarily relies worldwide on acaricides registered for use in agriculture or for livestock, and those most widely used are carbamates, followed by amidines, pyrethroids and organophosphates. Due to the repeated use of acaricides - sometimes in high concentrations - to control infestation, red mites may become resistant, and acaricides may accumulate in chicken organs and tissues, and also in eggs. To highlight some situations of misuse/abuse of chemicals and of risk to human health, we investigated laying hens, destined to the slaughterhouse, for the presence of acaricide residues in their organs and tissues. We used 45 hens from which we collected a total of 225 samples from the following tissues and organs: skin, fat, liver, muscle, hearth, and kidney. In these samples we analyzed the residual contents of carbaryl and permethrin by LC-MS/MS.Ninety-one (40.4%) samples were positive to carbaryl and four samples (1.7%) were positive to permethrin. Concentrations of carbaryl exceeding the detection limit (0.005 ppm) were registered in the skin and fat of birds from two farms (p<0.01), although these concentrations remained below the maximum residue limit (MRLs) (0.05 ppm) (p<0.01). All organs/tissues of hens from a third farm were significantly more contaminated, with skin and muscle samples exceeding the MRL (0.05 ppm) (p<0.01) of carbaryl in force before its use was banned. Out of 45 chickens tested, 37 (82.2%) were found to be contaminated by carbaryl, and 4 (8.8%) by permethrin. The present study is the first report on the presence of pesticides banned by the EU (carbaryl) or not licensed for use (permethrin) in the organs and tissues of laying hens, which have been treated against red mites, and then slaughtered for human consumption at the end of their life cycle.
Highlights
Despite the technological innovations achieved by the poultry industry in recent years and the production rates attained, poultry ectoparasites are of particular concern for the industry [1]
The control of D. gallinae red mite primarily relies on acaricide applications, and carbaryl is the most widely used in the past and at present, followed by amitraz, permethrin and organophosphates
Carbaryl concentrations higher than or equal to the detection limit were registered in the skin and fat of hens from Farms A and C (p,0.01); these were below the maximum residue limits (MRLs) (p,0.01)
Summary
Despite the technological innovations achieved by the poultry industry in recent years and the production rates attained, poultry ectoparasites are of particular concern for the industry [1]. The control of D. gallinae red mite primarily relies on acaricide applications, and carbaryl is the most widely used in the past and at present, followed by amitraz, permethrin and organophosphates The efficacy of these active ingredients against D. gallinae is well-documented [9,10,11,12,13,14]. Despite their proved efficacy against D. gallinae, none of these compounds is registered in Italy for use against red mites, except for the very recently labeled organophosphate-based products This means that farmers have always used - and continue to use - acaricides registered for use in agriculture or for other farm animal species. Due to the absence of compounds labeled for use against red mites, the Veterinary Services has always tolerated the use of these acaricides in the poultry industry, but only when used exclusively between productive cycles and in the absence of birds
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