DDT Residues in Beef Cows Fed Apple Pomace

Abstract

It has replaced all of the roughage normally used for wintering beef cows (Burris and Priode, 1957). However, in the past, apple pomace has contained up to 40 parts per million (ppm) residues of DDT [1, 1, 1-trichloro-2, 2-bis (p-chlorophenyl) ethane] which accumulated (75.7 ppm) in omental fat of beef steers (Bovard et al., 1961). Currently the U. S. Food and Drug Administration tolerance of DDT residues is 7.0 ppm in animal fat and, therefore, apple pomace is not being used as a feed source. Recently, many apple producers have been using little or no DDT in their pest control programs. Pomace, from the same processors who supplied Bovard et al. (1961) in 1959, contained 1.2 ppm in 1965 and 0.6 ppm in 1966 as analyzed for this present study. If this trend continues, increased use of apple pomace as a practical cattle feed could result. This study was conducted to determine if the current level of DDT residues in apple pomace is low enough to alleviate the residue problem in cattle and, if not, at what levels apple pomace may be fed to wintering pregnant beef cows without causing a build-up of tissue residues above the legal tolerance level in either the cows or their calves.

Supplementation of Apple Pomace with Nonprotein Nitrogen for Gestating Beef Cows. IV. Pesticide Accumulation in Cows

“…The accumulation of DDT residues in the depot fat of beef cows fed apple pomace was below the current tolerance of 5 ppm s and similar to that observed in the second experiment of an earlier study by Rumsey et al (1969). After correction for differences in pesticide intake, residue accumulation appeared to be greater in the heart and external rib fats when the pesticides were added to the simulated apple pomace diet (trial 2) than when they were present as a contaminant in apple pomace (trial 1).…”

“…Therefore, it is important to know the nature and relative levels of residues in various parts of our environment, particularly if potential sources of animal feed are involved. Apple pomace, a potential feed for beef cattle, was shown by Rumsey et al (1969) to contain DDT, dicofol and tetradifon residues at levels that caused residue accumulation in fat depots of beef cows. The present study indicated that apple pomace may present an additional residue problem because of the variation in the concentration of pesticides in the apple pomace.…”

“…All silage and tissue samples were frozen until analyzed for dicofol, tetradifon, DDT, DDD and DDE with clean-up and gas-liquid chromatography methods used by Rumsey et al (1969).…”

“…DDT residues in apple pomace (Bovard et al, 1961;Wilson et al, 1971) have prevented the recommendation of this byproduct as a feed for ruminants. Winter feeding trials conducted from the fall of 1965 to the spring of 1967 indicated that apple pomace containing as little as .6 to 1.2 ppm of DDT residues caused an accumulation of 2.2 to 13.7 ppm of DDT residues in perianal fat of pregnant beef cows and in their calves after parturition (Rumsey et al, 1969). These trials also indicated that dicofol (kehhane) and tetradifon (tedion) residues accumulated in perianal fat when apple pomace was fed.…”

Effect of urea, diethylstilbestrol, and type of diet on the distribution of aldrin and dieldrin residues in finished beef heifers

“…After the extraction of samples with petroleum ether, the extracts were prepared and analyzed by using a hexane-acetonitrile partitioning and florisil column cleanup as described by Mills (1961) and the gas chromatographic conditions described by Rumsey et al (1969). The percentage of ether extract was determined for all depot fat tissues based on the above petroleum ether extraction.…”