[Contamination of milk and milk products with chlorinated hydrocarbons in the Westphalian area. II. Results and discussion]

Polychlorinated biphenyl residues in various fatty foods consumed in Guipúzcoa, the Basque Country (Spain)

Three congeners of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs)--the 2, 2', 3, 4, 4', 5'-, 2, 2', 4, 4', 5, 5'-hexachloro, and 2, 2', 3, 4, 4', 5, 5'-heptachlorobiphenyls--were determined in 18 samples of butter, 44 of fish (hake and anchovy) and 24 of egg, all of which came from markets in Guipúzcoa. The total content as Araclor 1260 was also determined. Quantitation was carried out by gas chromatography in a capillary column and electron capture detector. The total content in butter ranged from 20 to 60 ng/g (fat basis), in fish from 10 to 250 ng/g (edible part), and in eggs from 1 to 10 ng/g (edible part). None of these exceeded the tolerance limits established by the Canadian Government Guideline and USFDA.

[Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB) in food. The situation in the Federal Republic of Germany (author's transl)]

In a coordinated research program of the Federal Ministry of Research and Technology (BMFT), a screening study was carried out with representative samples. In spite of rather large ranges of PCB concentrations, the most important food-stuffs show clearly defined clusters with mean values of approx. 0.005 microgram/g in low fat food components of plant origin such as cereals or potatoes, approx. 0.05 microgram/g in vegetable fats, approx. 0.3 microgram/g in fat from milk, butter and cheese, approx. 0.15 microgram/g in animal fat, approx. 0.03 in chicken eggs and approx. 10 microgram/g in fish fat. Considering the mean diet in the FRG, a daily PCB intake of about 29 microgram from animal fat and of 6 microgram from the other food-stuffs results. The total intake of about 35 microgram per day and capita is almost the same as the figure conditionally suggested by the WHO as the acceptable daily HCB (hexachlorobenzene) intake.

[Proof of polychlorinated biphenyls in milk (author's transl)]

Today organochloric compounds are found in all kind of food; of those compounds HCB, HCH, Dieldrin, DDT and PCB are ubiquitous. This paper informs about PCB-residues in milk, analysed in our laboratory.

[Residue situation of milk products after the effective carrying out of the "step-by-step program for DDT-replacement" in the GDR]

A step-by-step program had been established to replace the persistent insecticide DDT with other active principles in the GDR by 1975. Monthly thin-layer chromatographic residue determinations in butter samples from all the districts demonstrate that the DDT-residues have decreased gradually since 1973 from an average value of 0.45 mg/kg to an average value of 0.18 mg/kg (in 1976). The DDT intake of adults via the milk products (butter, milk and cheese) was, in 1976, only 2% of the ADI value, which evidences a very positive development. Furthermore, findings concerning the contamination with lindane and HCB are presented.