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International audience; This study assesses the impact of the farming system on the levels of copper, zinc, arsenic, cadmium, lead and mercury in pig tissues from three types of production (Organic (n = 28), Label Rouge (n = 12) and Conventional (n = 30)) randomly sampled in different slaughterhouses. All the concentrations were below regulatory limits. In muscles, Cu, Zn and As were measured at slightly higher levels in organic samples but no differences between organic and Label Rouge was observed. Livers from conventional and Label Rouge pig farms exhibited higher Zn and Cd contents than the organic ones, probably due to different practice in zinc or phytase supplementation of fattening diets. Principal component analysis indicated a correlation between Cu and As concentrations in liver and carcass weight, and between Zn and Cd liver levels and lean meat percentage. The linear discriminant analysis succeeded in predicting the farming process on the basis of the lean meat percentage and the liver Cd level.

International audience; 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 %).

A QuEChERS extraction method followed by HPLC-MS/MS analysis was developed to simultaneously analyze chlordecone and its metabolite chlordecol in animal livers. The overall method was validated with accuracy profiles according to the French Standard NF V03-110 and European Union guidelines. The validation was performed on bovine, ovine and porcine liver samples. Linearity, matrix effect, accuracy, within-laboratory repeatability, specificity, LOQ, Q/q relative ion intensities, and uncertainty were reported. Recoveries were between 70% and 120%. LOQs of 1.36 µg chlordecone kg-1 and 2.50 µg chlordecol kg-1 of fresh liver were found. Twelve contaminated livers of bovine, ovine and porcine origin from the French West Indies or samples from in vivo studies were analyzed. In these liver samples from contaminated animals, chlordecone was quantified at concentrations higher than the maximum residue limit and chlordecol in very low amounts in all the samples. In addition, these results confirm that chlordecone can be metabolized in ruminant species.

Chlordecone (CLD) is a Persistent Organic Pollutant used between 1972 until 1993 in the French West Indies (FWI). Due to its persistence and extensive application, a quarter of the total local agricultural acreage is still moderate to heavily polluted. In consequence, livestock may be contaminated at various levels. This is a major public health concern, particularly for local consumers. In order to better understand the fate of CLD in livestock organisms, in vivo studies are required. There is no information available about its metabolism and elimination in ruminants, common livestock in the FWI. To be able to monitor the fate of chlordecone and its metabolites in livestock and to assess if the compounds could be released in the environment, urinary and fecal samples were logically targeted. In order to reach this goal, robust and validated analytical methods are required. For this purpose, Quick, Easy, Cheap, Effective, Rugged, and Safe (QuEChERS) extraction methods were validated to analyze CLD and its metabolites in the urine and feces. The analysis was carried using liquid phase chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry and validated according to French standard NF V03-110 and SANTE guidelines. Matrix effect, Accuracy, within-laboratory repeatability, specificity, Q/q relative ion intensities and uncertainty were reported. Recoveries between 70% and 120% were obtained from urine and feces. The limits of quantification (LOQ) in urine samples were 0.1 μg CLD L−1, 0.1 μg total CLD (CLD and its conjugates)·L−1, 1.3 μg CLDOH L−1 and 2.4 μg total CLD (chlordecol and its conjugates) L−1 of urine. LOQ in fresh feces were 3.2 μg CLD kg−1 and 5.8 μg CLDOH kg−1. Contaminated urinary and fecal samples from ewes were analyzed to confirm the relevance of the methods. In urine, CLD and conjugated CLDOH could be quantified whereas only free CLD and free CLDOH were found in feces. These methods are essential for future toxicokinetic studies and also to estimate the environmental contamination.

International audience; Background : In the context of a nuclear reactor accident, thyroid is the main target organ of radioactive iodines. To avoid as much as possible thyroid disorders or even cancer development, it is recommended to administer a single dose of potassium iodide to people at risk of exposure. Nevertheless, the Fu-kushima Dai-ichi disaster has pointed out many questions about the conditions of stable iodine prophylaxis implementation highlighting the need for reflection further revision of the actual "iodine doctrine". Therefore, providing useful data is required notably through the implementation of animal experiments to strengthen current knowledge and to edit new recommendations. Methods : Urinary iodine constitutes a very good indicator to investigate the function of thyroid, its interpretation demands reliable analyses. Prior to perform animal experiments, two calibration methods were designed by our lab and compared together (standard addition and external calibration) to assess the urinary concentration of stable iodine in urine by ICP-MS. They were validated based on several key parameters especially linearity, accuracy and limits of detection (LOD) and quantification (LOQ). Results : The results were nicely satisfying. Indeed, both calibration methods have indicated very good coefficients of correlations, accuracies with low expanded relative uncertainties were obtained. The estimated LOD in the sample for standard addition method and external calibration were fully acceptable, 0.39 µg·L −1 and 0.35 µg·L −1 , respectively. All performance criteria have been thus fulfilled successfully. The established methods were proven to be accurate, robust and sensitive. Once validated, both calibration methods were applied to rat urine samples and the results of z-score and Wilcoxon W test concluded that there were no statistically significant differences between both methods.

International audience; The chemical contamination levels of both conventional and organic meats were assessed. The objective was to provide occurrence data in a context of chronic exposure. Environmental contaminants (17 polychlorinated dibenzodioxins/dibenzofurans, 18 polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), 3 hexabromocyclododecane (HBCD) isomers, 6 mycotoxins, 6 inorganic compounds) together with chemical residues arising from production inputs (75 antimicrobials, 10 coccidiostats and 121 pesticides) have been selected as relevant compounds. A dedicated sampling strategy, representative of the French production allowed quantification of a large sample set (n=266) including both conventional (n=139) and organic (n=127) raw meat from three animal species (bovine, porcine, poultry). While contamination levels below regulatory limits were measured in all the samples, significant differences were observed between both species and types of farming. Several environmental contaminants (Dioxins, PCBs, HBCD, Zn, Cu, Cd, Pb, As) were measured at significantly higher levels in organic samples.