[Effect of semen diluters containing egg yolk contaminated with DDT on the survival of bull spermatozoa]

In two experiments, hens received 200 (group I) or 100 ppm of DDT per day and per kg of live weight (group II), for 17 or 10 days resp. The eggs of experimental hens were collected, and a 3 or 6 day collection of eggs was used for preparing a sample of pooled egg yolks; one part of this sample was used for preparation of a 25% egg yolk-citrate diluent, the other for DDT determination. The egg yolks of experimentally poisoned hens contained 12 to 957 ppm of DDT (egg yolks of controls 1-4 ppm) in consecutive collection samples. However, the survival time and survival indexes of bull semen (90 ejaculates) preserved at 3 degrees C and 46 degrees C in yolk citrate diluent containing DDT poluted egg yolk did not differ from those preserved in control diluter.