Determination of PCDD/F Levels in Wood Shavings Used as Bedding Material for Poultry Production

Abstract

During 2006 and 2011, following the implementation of dioxin contamination monitoring in poultry meat, levels higher than legally allowed in meat from poultry slaughtered for human consumption, were found. The wood shavings used as bedding material in the poultry farm showed considerable high contaminations, indicating that these materials were the likely source of contamination of the animals. Wood shavings samples (n = 23), used as poultry litters in intensive farms of broilers, were analysed. In both episodes, contamination profiles of higher and lower concentrations, seem to be very similar, being OCDD, OCDF,