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    ENDRIN     JMPR 1974

    Explanation

         The 1970 JMPR (FAO/WHO 1971) recommended practical residue limits
    of 0.02 mg/kg in milk and milk products (fat basis), 1 mg/kg in fat of
    poultry, and 0.2 mg/kg in eggs (shell free). The 1974 Meeting of the
    Codex Committee on Pesticide Residues (CCPR) referred to the 1974
    Joint Meeting a question (Alinorm 74/24, para. 101) as to whether the
    proposed residue limits for poultry and eggs were too high, and
    requested governments to provide data on residue levels in eggs and
    poultry. In addition, the CCPR requested the Joint Meeting to make a
    proposal for a practical residue limit in meat.

    RESIDUES IN FOOD AND THEIR EVALUATION

    Evaluation of residue data on poultry and eggs

         The Netherlands was the only government responding to the request
    for data. The information was in the form of a summary of Dutch
    surveys for organochlorine pesticides for the periods 1967-1969 and
    1972-1973. Of 422 samples of eggs and egg products and 280 samples of
    poultry tissues examined in the two surveys, no endrin was detected by
    methods sensitive to 0.01 mg/kg.

         The 1974 Joint Meeting re-examined the 1970 JMPR evaluation and
    the data upon which it was based. The 1970 review adopted an empirical
    approach in which analyses of animal feed products used in supervised
    trials were related to controlled feeding studies to establish ratios
    between intake and storage. Insofar as the accuracy of the data
    available at the time of the 1970 evaluation can be accepted, the
    practical residue limits recommended by the Joint Meeting at that time
    are valid.

         The rationale leading to the practical residue limit (PRL) for
    poultry fat and eggs was based on a ratio of 5 for residues in fat to
    residues in feed, and a ratio of 0.7 in eggs. The ratios are derived
    from Cummings et al. (1966, 1967) and Terriere et al. (1959). The 1970
    JMPR cited studies showing residues in rice bran ranging from <0.01
    to 2.3 mg/kg with a mean of 0.35 mg/kg as a source of residues in
    poultry and eggs. The proposed limit of 1 mg/kg in poultry fat is thus
    based on a maximum limit of 1 mg/kg in rice bran contributing 0.2
    mg/kg to the total diet (at 20% of diet). The 1970 JMPR did not
    include calculations for residues in eggs or poultry which might be
    derived from cottonseed meal. However, residues from that source would
    be lower than those derived from the bran.

    Evaluation of residue data in meat

         The dietary intake of endrin in meat animals must be estimated
    from those crops with recommended Codex tolerances which are fed
    directly or in the form of by-products. It should be noted that the
    recommended tolerance level on the commodity does not necessarily
    reflect the residue levels in the feed by-products (see table 1).

    TABLE 1   Residues of endrin in crops and crop products fed to meat
              animals

                                                                            

    Feed item             Range of residues mg/kg       Source
                                                                            

    Cottonseed meal       <0.02 - 0.08                  Venezuela, India
                                                        Brazil, USA

    Rice bran             <0.01 - 2.30                  India, Philippines,
                          (av. 0.35)                    Thailand

    Rice straw            <0.02 - 2.9                   India, Thailand
                                                        Philippines

    Small grains          <0.01 - 0.5                   USA

    Sorghum grain         <0.01 - 0.5                   India, USA

    Sorghum forage        0.03 - 0.99                   India, USA

    Apple pomace          no data
                                                                            

         Little information is available on the present extent of endrin
    use world-wide or on the extent to which the above feed items are
    utilized in various countries. Also because some of the items may
    replace others, it is difficult to make a realistic estimate of the
    total level in the animal diet.

         Sufficient data were available to estimate the relationship
    between endrin intake in meat animals and storage in body fat. The
    average ratio of endrin in body fat to endrin in the diet is 0.45 for
    cattle and sheep. This is in marked contrast to the storage ratio for
    poultry which is about 5.6. The reason for the difference is not
    apparent but may be associated with the methods of analysis used in
    the earlier work on cattle and sheep (phenyl azide colorimetric
    method). In any event, it is clear that endrin does not accumulate in
    body fat to the extent that dieldrin does, nor is it retained as long
    in the body when the pesticide is removed from the diet.

         The Netherlands has submitted data from a survey on domestic and
    imported beef, pork, mutton and horse meat products extending from
    1969 to the present. No endrin was found (<0.05 mg/kg) in any sample.
    No other governments responded to the CCPR request for data. However,
    market basket surveys in the US and the UK are available and have not
    shown significant residues of endrin in meat or dairy products.

    APPRAISAL

         The 1974 CCPR has requested the Joint Meeting to re-evaluate the
    recommended practical residue limits (PRL) of 1 mg/kg of endrin in fat
    of poultry and 0.2 mg/kg in eggs to determine whether these levels are
    too high in the light of regulatory experience in certain countries
    which shows that endrin residues rarely occur in these commodities.
    The 1974 CCPR also requested the Joint Meeting to propose a PRL for
    endrin in meat.

         The 1970 JMPR followed a rationale in which residues in poultry
    feed items resulting from good agricultural practices in various
    countries were related to controlled endrin feeding experiments with
    poultry. The Joint Meeting concludes from re-examination of the data
    that the recommended figures of 1 mg/kg in poultry fat and 0.2 mg/kg
    in eggs are valid. The discrepancy between the predicted residues
    based on supervised trials and the levels actually occurring in
    European countries is probably due to curtailed use of endrin in the
    western world. The Joint Meeting notes that survey data on endrin
    residues in meat are not available from India, the Philippines,
    Thailand, Indonesia or South America, the countries where residues
    were found in animal feed products from agricultural uses. The Joint
    Meeting recognizes the desirability of reducing endrin tolerances
    whenever possible but is unable to recommend lower practical residue
    limits for endrin in poultry fat and eggs on the basis of the
    available information.

         The Joint Meeting has evaluated the need for a PRL in meat.
    Information is fragmentary on world-wide animal feeding practices but
    the Meeting concluded that a PRL of 0.1 mg/kg (fat basis) would be
    appropriate for endrin in meat and meat by-products. This is
    consistent with data from controlled feeding studies which show that
    the storage ratio for endrin in the fat of meat animals is about one
    tenth of that in poultry.

    RECOMMENDATION

         The following additional practical residue limit is recommended.

    PRACTICAL RESIDUE LIMIT             mg/kg

         Fat of meat                   0.1

    REFERENCES

    Anonymous. (1974) Specific information to Joint Meeting from the  
    Netherlands. (Unpublished).

    Cummings, J.G., Zee, K.T., Turner, V., Quinn, F. and Cook, R.E. (1966)
    Residues in eggs from low level feeding of five chlorinated
    hydrocarbon insecticide to hens. J. Ass. off. analyt. Chem.,
    49:354-364.

    Cummings, J.G., Eidelman, M., Turner, V., Reed, D., Zee, K.T.,  and
    Cook, R.E. (1967) Residues in poultry tissue from low level feeding of
    five chlorinated hydrocarbon insecticide to hens. J. Ass. off. analyt.
    Chem., 50:418-425.

    FAO/WHO. (1971) 1970 Evaluations of some pesticide residues in food.
    AGP/1970/M/12/1; WHO/Food Add./71.42.

    Terriere, L.C., Arscott, G.H. and Kiigemagi, U. (1959) The endrin 
    content of eggs and body tissue of poultry receiving endrin in their
    daily diet. J. agr. Food Chem., 7:502-504.
    


    See Also:
       Toxicological Abbreviations
       Endrin (EHC 130, 1992)
       Endrin (HSG 60, 1991)
       Endrin (ICSC)
       Endrin (FAO Meeting Report PL/1965/10/1)
       Endrin (AGP:1970/M/12/1)
       Endrin (WHO Pesticide Residues Series 5)
       Endrin (IARC Summary & Evaluation, Volume 5, 1974)