Occurrence of chloramphenicol in cereal straw in north-western Europe.
Two surveys are presented of straw analysed for naturally occurring chloramphenicol (CAP), a drug banned for use in food-producing animals. In the first study, CAP was analysed by LC-MS/MS and detected in 37 out of 105 straw samples originating from the Netherlands, France, the UK, Germany and Denmark. The highest level found was 6.3 µg kg(-1), the average 0.6 µg kg(-1) and the median 0.2 µg kg(-1). The second study included a method comparison between ELISA and LC-MS/MS and a survey of CAP in cereal straw sampled at farms in all areas of Sweden. A total of 215 samples were screened by ELISA and a subset of 26 samples was also analysed by LC-MS/MS. Fifty-four of the samples contained more than 1 µg kg(-1) CAP and the highest level found was 32 µg kg(-1) (confirmed by LC-MS/MS). The highest contents of CAP in this study were allocated to the Baltic sea coast in the south-eastern part of Sweden (the county of Skåne and the Baltic Sea isle of Gotland). These results indicate a high incidence of CAP in straw in north-west Europe and have a severe impact on the enforcement of European Union legislation.
a Department of Chemistry, Environment and Feed Safety , National Veterinary Institute, SVA , Uppsala , Sweden.
Erik
E
Nordkvist
b Department of Veterinary Drugs Residue Analysis , RIKILT, Wageningen University and Research centre , Wageningen , the Netherlands.
Tina
T
Zuidema
c Netherlands Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority , Utrecht , the Netherlands.
Rik G
RG
Herbes
b Department of Veterinary Drugs Residue Analysis , RIKILT, Wageningen University and Research centre , Wageningen , the Netherlands.
Bjorn J A
BJ
Berendsen
D000821:Animal Feed / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000032:analysis* / Q000592:standards; D000818:Animals; D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000032:analysis* / Q000633:toxicity; D002701:Chloramphenicol / Q000032:analysis* / Q000633:toxicity; D002851:Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid; D004350:Drug Residues / Q000032:analysis* / Q000592:standards / Q000633:toxicity; D002523:Edible Grain / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000592:standards; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D005060:Europe; D005062:European Union; D005506:Food Contamination / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence / Q000517:prevention & control; D005513:Food Inspection / Q000379:methods*; D007881:Legislation, Food; D058751:Livestock; D011200:Poultry; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D053719:Tandem Mass Spectrometry
D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents; D002701:Chloramphenicol
Chloramphenicol; ELISA; LC-MS/MS; animal feed; bedding; straw; survey