Transfer of fat-soluble pesticides from contaminated feed to poultry tissues and eggs

1. Implementation of Good Manufacturing Practice and HACCP (Hazard Analysis Critical Control Points) in the production of poultry feed requires efficient tools for profiling risks associated with pesticide use in the production of crops for feed. 2. This paper describes a simple model that may be of use in the first tiers of risk profiling of feeds. 3. The model adequately reproduced the pattern of residues in fat and eggs of laying hens dosed with a selection of lipophilic pesticides that may be used in the production of crops for poultry feeds: deltamethrin, diflubenzuron, fipronil, lindane, piperonyl butoxide and spinosad. 4. Simulations suggest results derived from studies on laying chickens can be extrapolated to other laying birds. 5. Poultry meat production systems focus on maximising growth of birds giving rise to significant potential for dilution of residues that transfer to fat from feed. 6. Simulations of residues in fat of chickens, ducks, geese and turkeys exposed to a lipophilic pesticide with an elimination half-life of one day at 10 mg/kg body weight/d from hatching to typical market ages suggest residues in fat that are highest in turkeys > chickens > geese > ducks. 7. The model is of use in interpreting published dosing studies and predicting likely residues in birds at times after last exposure/dosing.