The quality and safety of eggs obtained from laying hens after their experimental poisoning with sodium bromide

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to determine the quality and safety of eggs obtained from laying hens after their experimental poisoning with sodium bromide. According to the principle of analogues, three experimental and one control group of laying hens (n = 15) were formed. The background bromine content of the compound feed was 2.0 mg/kg. An aqueous solution of sodium bromide was added daily to the feed of the chickens of the experimental groups for 28 days, followed by the observation of the birds for 14 days without its addition. Chickens of the 1st experimental group received bromine with feed at a dose of 10.0 mg/kg, 2nd — 50.0 mg/kg, 3rd — 250.0 mg/kg of feed. During the experiment, eggs were collected daily, their quality was determined according to the requirements of DSTU 5028:2008 ‘Hen’s Eggs for Human Consumption. Specifications’ and the rules for the veterinary and sanitary examination of poultry eggs. In addition, the bromine content was determined separately in egg white, yolk, and shell. Bromine content was determined by X-ray fluorescence analysis. Statistical processing of research results was conducted. Under the conditions of the chronic experiment, clinical manifestations of poisoning in chickens were not observed. No significant deviation from the control group was observed in productivity, egg mass, white to yolk mass ratios, and pH values of yolk and white. However, an uneven distribution of the eggs by category was established. Starting from the 2nd day of the experiment, bromine was excreted in laying hens with egg whites. The maximum value was observed on the 18th–28th days of the experiment: in the 1st experimental group a reliable excess 2.5 times of bromine content relative to the control was observed; in 2nd — 7.2 times, and in 3rd — 26.9 times. Thus, eggs from chickens of all groups conformed to DSTU 5028:2008 and the rules for the veterinary and sanitary examination of poultry eggs. However, the bromine content in the eggs of all experimental groups reliably exceeded the reference value for 28 days when sodium bromide was received with feed. Even 14 days after the experiment, the content of the element reliably exceeded the control value in the eggs of chickens from the 2nd and 3rd experimental groups, which may indicate the ability of bromine to cumulate