title: Toward a new European threshold to discriminate illegally administered from naturally occurring thiouracil in livestock.
abstract: Thiouracil is a thyrostat inhibiting the thyroid function, resulting in fraudulent weight gain if applied in the fattening of livestock. The latter abuse is strictly forbidden and monitored in the European Union. Recently, endogenous sources of thiouracil were identified after frequently monitoring low-level thiouracil positive urine samples and a "recommend concentration" (RC) of 10 μg/L was suggested by the EURL to facilitate decision-making. However, the systematic occurrence of urine samples exceeding the RC led to demands for international surveys defining an epidemiologic threshold. Therefore, six European member states (France, Poland, The Netherlands, United Kingdom, Norway, and Belgium) have shared their official thiouracil data (2010-2012) collected from bovines, porcines, and small livestock with 95 and 99% percentiles of 8.1 and 18.2 μg/L for bovines (n = 3894); 7.4 and 13.5 μg/L for porcines (n = 654); and 7.4 μg/L (95% only) for small livestock (n = 85), respectively. Bovine percentiles decreased with the animal age (nonadults had significantly higher levels for bovines), and higher levels were observed in male bovines compared to female bovines.
authors.affiliation: Ghent University , Department of Veterinary Public Health and Food Safety, Laboratory of Chemical Analysis, Salisburylaan 133, 9820 Merelbeke, Belgium.
authors.forename: Jella
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wauters
authors.forename: Julie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Vanden Bussche
authors.forename: Bruno Le
authors.initials: BL
authors.lastname: Bizec
authors.forename: Julie A L
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Kiebooms
authors.forename: Gaud
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Dervilly-Pinel
authors.forename: Stéphanie
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Prevost
authors.forename: Barbara
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Wozniak
authors.forename: Saskia S
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Sterk
authors.forename: Dag
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Grønningen
authors.forename: D Glenn
authors.initials: DG
authors.lastname: Kennedy
authors.forename: Sandra
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Russell
authors.forename: Philippe
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Delahaut
authors.forename: Lynn
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Vanhaecke
mesh_terms: D000822:Animal Husbandry / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D000818:Animals; D013956:Antithyroid Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000652:urine; D002417:Cattle; D005062:European Union; D005260:Female; D006133:Growth Substances / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000652:urine; D007886:Legislation, Veterinary; D058751:Livestock / Q000254:growth & development*; D008297:Male; D013552:Swine; D013889:Thiouracil / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000652:urine; D019155:Veterinary Drugs / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000652:urine
chemical_list: D013956:Antithyroid Agents; D006133:Growth Substances; D019155:Veterinary Drugs; D013889:Thiouracil
keywords: European; LC-MS/MS; endogenous; thiouracil; threshold; urine