Inhalation of water during electrical stunning in chickens

Twenty live hens were subjected to electrical stunning using a waterbath containing a solution of technetium99 (99Tc), and 12 hen carcases were injected intratracheally with different doses of the same solution. The respiratory tract was dissected from the carcases and samples were assessed for the presence of radioactivity. Thirty-five per cent of the electrically stunned birds had 99Tc in their tracheas and 15 per cent had 99Tc in the lungs. From the dose response study it was estimated that the birds with radioactivity in their lungs had inhaled between 0.5 and 1 ml of water. In commercial slaughterlines this may be a hazard to meat hygiene.