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The consumption of private hold poultry foodstuffs, escaping of official maximum residue limit (MRL) controls in the commercial foodstuff, is an important exposure way for the local populations to chlordecone on the French West Indies. Therefore, chlordecone contamination of different tissues in 42 birds from 32 private holders was determined depending on the contamination of the soil of the outside plot but also surveying the rearing practices of these holders of both islands. Chlordecone contents in tissues increased rapidly with this of the topsoil of the site. The most sensitive tissues to chlordecone presence were egg yolk and liver, followed by abdominal fat and finally leg tissue. The rearing practices varied between the surveyed private holders of both islands. Nevertheless, practices for the distribution of feed and water as well as covering of soil were hardly protective, what would increase the exposure risk of these birds to this potentially present soil-bound contaminant. Although depuration of birds seems possible, the ongoing modelization of the necessary time to meet MRL thresholds indicates that such time lapse seems hardly compatible with acceptable delays for private holders. Therefore, very protective rearing practices are the main way to obtain poultry foodstuffs compliant to MRL, what seems possible if the topsoil is contaminated at less than 0.1 mg kg−1 and perhaps up to 0.5 mg kg−1 if protective practices vis-a-vis of soil exposure are very strict. Nevertheless, a higher contamination of the topsoil seems not compatible with compliant poultry foodstuffs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Chlordecone (Kepone) (CLD) is a highly persistent pesticide formerly used in the French West Indies. High levels of this pesticide are still found in soils and represent a subsequent source of contamination for outdoor-reared animals which may ingest involuntary non negligible amounts of soil. In that context, sequestering matrices like activated carbons (ACs) may be used to efficiently decrease the bioavailability of such organic pollutants. The present study intends to assess the respective efficiency of two sequestering strategies where two different ACs were provided either via feed incorporation or via soil amendment. This study involved 20 piglets randomly distributed into 5 experimental groups (4 replicates). All groups were exposed to 10 μg of CLD per kg of BW per day during 10 days via a contaminated soil. In both "Soil-ACs" treatment groups, the contaminated soil was amended by 2% (mass basis) of one of the two ACs. The two "Feed-ACs" groups received the contaminated soil and one dough ball containing 0.5% (mass basis) of one of the ACs. The piglets were then euthanized before collection of pericaudal adipose tissue and the whole liver and CLD analysis. A significant decrease of CLD concentrations in liver and adipose tissue was observed only in the "Soil-ACs" groups in comparison with the control group (P < 0.001). This decrease was particularly important for the coconut shell activated carbon where relative bioavailability was found lower than 1.8% for both tissues. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Chlordecone (CLD) is an organochlorine pesticide used in banana fields of the French West Indies between 1972 and 1993. This use resulted in a long-term pollution of soils and the possible contamination of farm animals. Indeed, after involuntary ingestion of soil, CLD is absorbed and consequently leads to contaminated animals. The aim of this study was the determination of CLD half-life and the establishment of the linearity of CLD disappearance kinetics in non-lactating adult's ewes. Chlordecone diluted in cremophor was intravenously administrated to ewes at different doses: 0.04, 0.2, or 1 mg kg−1 body weight (n = 5 for each dose). Blood samples were collected from time t = 0 to time t = 84 days. Serum samples were extracted with a solid-phase extraction and analyzed by electron capture detection gas chromatography. A two-compartmental model was applied to the serum CLD kinetics. An additional statistical analysis was applied to the observed elimination parameters in serum according to the administrated dose, and no significant differences were detected. The linear elimination of CLD between 0.04 and 1 mg kg−1 body weight allowed the possibility of ewe's extrapolation half-life in this dose range. The estimated mean CLD half-life in ewes was 24 days. Overall, the results of this study will be useful to establish decontamination strategies in small ruminants reared in contaminated CLD areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The former use of chlordecone (CLD) in the French West Indies has resulted in long-term pollution of soils. CLD is known to be potentially transferred towards animal products of animals reared outdoors, mainly through accidental soil ingestion. Several studies indicate that soil bound CLD is bioavailable when administered to farm animals. Currently there is a need to quantify the level of CLD absorption and its toxicokinetic characteristics in the ruminant and particularly in the goat. These are considered as important farm species in the French West Indies. The objective of this study was to evaluate the absorption rate and the half-life of CLD in the non-lactating goat. The goats were administered either intravenously (i.v., n = 6) or orally (p.o., n = 6) one dose (1 mg kg −1 body weight) of CLD. Blood samples were collected at defined times up to 160 days post-dosing. CLD was analyzed in serum by high-resolution gas chromatography. A comparison of the area under the serum concentration-time curves (AUC) showed that the i.v. route is equivalent to the oral route. Thus, CLD is considered almost completely absorbed after p.o. administration, as shown by the mean absolute bioavailability. The comparison between the pharmacokinetic profiles of CLD following oral and intravenous dose showed a difference during the first 14 days and a similar kinetic after this period. The half-life of CLD in serum was close to 20 days. These results highlight a possible strategy of decontamination due to the short half-life of CLD, obtained in dry goats that did not excrete fat matter. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• After CLD administration, CLD and CLDOH-C were quantified in serum and urine and CLD and CLDOH were quantified in faeces. • 86 % of CLD is excreted in faeces as parent form or CLDOH. • 3.6 % of CLD is excreted in urine as parent form or CLDOH-C. To reduce the exposure of the French West Indies population to the organochlorine insecticide chlordecone (Kepone; CLD), the contamination of currently consumed foodstuffs must be reduced. Depuration of contaminated animals before slaughter could be a strategy to obtain safe animal products. The aim of this study was to characterize and quantify CLD elimination in contaminated ewes during depuration process. Experiments A and B consisted in a single intravenous (i.v.) administration of CLD (n = 5) and CLDOH (chlordecol; n = 3) followed by a 84-d and 3-d depuration period respectively with collection of blood, faeces and urine samples. After CLD administration, CLD and conjugated-CLDOH (CLDOH-C) were quantified in serum and urine and CLD and CLDOH were quantified in faeces. Based on calculations of faecal, urinary and body clearances of CLD and CLDOH-C, faeces appeared as the major route of CLD excretion with 86 % of the CLD administered dose eliminated in faeces, either as CLD (51 %) or as CLDOH (35 %). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To reduce the exposure of the French West Indies population to the pollutant chlordecone (CLD), the contamination of consumed products must be reduced. One of the strategies to secure safe animal products is related to the depuration of contaminated animals. In order to set up this strategy in situ , characterizing CLD distribution and elimination appears to be essential. The aim of this study is to characterize CLD distribution and elimination in ewes, and establish correlations between CLD concentrations in tissues following a continuous oral contamination period and a depuration period. The experiment consisted in a 90-d period of CLD exposure via daily feeding at 0.01 mg kg−1 body weight, followed by a 127-d period of depuration. A total of 24 ewes were sequentially slaughtered and serum, liver, perirenal fat, subcutaneous fat, shaft muscle, longissimus dorsi muscle and heart samples were collected. CLD concentrations in serum and tissues were analyzed by GC-MS/MS and LC-MS/MS, respectively. Whatever the time of sampling, CLD concentrations in liver were significantly higher than in other collected tissues. However, the results showed that fat tissues stored the higher portion of CLD body burden, followed by muscle, liver, serum and heart. CLD half-lives did not differ significantly between tissues including serum and ranged between 20.2 ± 4.0 and 24.1 ± 4.9 d. Two linear models were developed to estimate CLD concentration in tissues from a blood sample. This study illustrates the theoretical methodology to estimate the time required to decontaminate farm animals from a blood sample. • The depuration half-life is not significantly different between tissues and is ranged between 20.2 ± 4.0 and 24.1 ± 4.9 d. • Significant differences were observed in CLD concentrations in tissues. • Serum is a good matrix for non-invasive biomonitoring CLD concentrations in tissues. • These results will be used to build a future CLD transfer model in ewes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]