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.