[Survey of PCB and organochlorine pesticide residues in meats and processed meat products collected in Osaka, Japan].

Residues of PCB and organochlorine pesticides in meats (beef, pork and poultry) and processed meat products collected in Osaka, Japan were surveyed. For 35 years from 1970 to 2004, the concentrations of PCB, HCH isomers, DDT analogues and dieldrin in all meats appeared to decline with each passing year. The concentration of each isomer of HCH in all meats declined rapidly from the early to the late 1970's and showed a gentle decline thereafter; beta-HCH showed the highest residue rate of the isomers in all the time periods surveyed, except for pork and poultry samples in the early 1980's. The concentrations of DDT analogues in all meats also showed sharp declines from the late 1970's to the early 1980's, followed by a smaller decrease thereafter; the main residues were pp'-DDD, p,p'-DDE and p,p'-DDT, and the residue rate of p,p'-DDE increased over the years. The residue levels of organochlorine pesticides in processed meat products (raw materials: beef, pork, poultry and mixture of ground beef and pork) were surveyed for 15 years (from 1990 to 2004) and there were no significant differences in the values among the materials. The concentrations of each pesticide in processed meat products tended to be lower than those of the corresponding meat samples, respectively.

[Congener-specific analysis of Pcbs in food samples by using GC/MS].

A GC/MS method for congener-specific analysis of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in food samples was evaluated. There was good agreement between total concentration of PCBs in fish samples (n = 16) measured by using the GC/MS method and the conventional GC-ECD method. The total diet study samples (fishery food, meat, egg, milk, and their products) collected from Osaka in 1982-2001 were analyzed by using the GC/MS method to estimate the temporal trend of daily intake of PCBs from food. The estimated daily intake of total PCBs (sum of tri- to heptaCBs) was in the range of 0.7-4.4 microg/person/day, far below the Japanese provisional acceptable daily intake (250 microg/50 kg-person/day). The dominant congener was 2,2',4,4',5,5'-hexachlorobiphenyl (#153), which accounted for 9-15% of total PCB. The ratio of lower chlorinated congeners decreased from the 1980's to post-2000. The results indicate that the PCB congener profile in foods has gradually changed.

Survey of cattle fascioliasis in Tsuyama Abattoir.

OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to survey the prevalence of fascioliasis in slaughtered cattle in order to provide breeders with feedback which may prevent cattle fascioliasis, as well as human fascioliasis. METHODS: The results of meat inspection and the information extracted from the Discriminative Data Base on Individual Livestock in Japan were analyzed statistically in 6,224 cattle slaughtered at the Tsuyama Abattoir during the fiscal year 2002. RESULTS: The age-adjusted fascioliasis and cholangitis rates of all cattle were 2.0% and 7.2%, respectively. When analyzed by cattle breed, both rates were significantly higher in Japanese native cattle than in Holstein or Jersey (Chi-square test, p<0.01). The cattle raised in Okayama Prefecture, Tochigi Prefecture and Shimane Prefecture were significantly different from cattle raised in other prefectures in the age-adjusted fascioliasis and cholangitis rates. CONCLUSION: The age-adjusted fascioliasis and cholangitis rates of all cattle can be considered as nationwide rates for slaughtered cattle. The results of the comparisons suggest that cattle fascioliasis is related to feeding with rice straw and that the measures to prevent cattle fascioliasis might differ a mong prefectural governments.