Dietary p,p'-DDT, o,p'-DDT or p,p'-DDE and Changes in Egg Shell Characteristics and Pesticide Accumulation in Egg Contents and Body Fat of Caged White Leghorns HELENE C. CECIL, GEORGE F. FRIES, JOEL BITMAN, SUSAN J. HARRIS, R. J. LILLIE AND C. A. DENTON United States Department of Agriculture1 Beltsville, Maryland 20705

ABSTRACT White Leghorn pullets were fed diets containing 5, 25 and SO p.p.m. of p,p'-DDT, o,p'-DDT or p,p'-DDE for 28 weeks. The pesticides were then fed at a level of 50, 150 and 300 p.p.m. for the succeeding period of 12 weeks. Egg weight, egg shell thickness and egg shell calcium were unaffected by treatment. Pesticide concentration of the egg contents reached equilibrium at 12 weeks, and was approximately equal to dietary level for the p,p'-DDE and p,p'-DDT diets. The level of o,p'-DDT in eggs, however, was only 10% of the dietary level. At 2 weeks 87% of the pesticide egg residue in p,p'-DDTfed chickens was p,p'-DDT while 13% was p,p'-DDE. The proportion of p,p'-t)DE increased until 12 weeks when 25% of the pesticide residue was p,p'-DDE and remained at this level thereafter. There was no evidence for conversion of o,p'-DDT to p,p'-DDT in the chickens fed o,p'-DDT. At the end of the experiment, residues in the fat from birds fed o,p'-DDT equaled the concentration in the diet. However, birds fed p,p'-DDT or p,p'DDE had residues in the fat which were 13-14 X that of the diet. Pesticides in the fat were approximately 13 X that of residues in egg contents. POULTRY SCIENCE 5 1 : 130-139,

ECENTLY there has been concern about the effect of DDT and its metabolite, DDE, on egg shell thickness. Eggshell thinning in wild birds has been correlated with residues of DDT or DDE in their eggs (Ratcliffe, 1967; Hickey and Anderson, 1968; Anderson et al, 1969; Fyfe et al, 1969) or with pesticides in the diet (Heath et al., 1969; Porter and Wiemeyer, 1969; Tucker and Haegele, 1970; Wiemeyer and Porter, 1970). The literature has been complicated by the use of technical DDT by some investigators and by the use of pure p,p'-DDT or p,p'-DDE by others. Japanese quail laid eggs with thinner shells when fed 100 p.p.m. p,p'-DDT (Bitman et al, 1969a; Cecil et al, 1971) or 0.5 to 25 p.p.m. p,p'-DDT (Stickel and Rhodes, 1970). Recently, Smith et dl. (1970), reported that 10 p.p.m. technical DDT reduced egg shell thickness in eggs of laying

R

1 A.R.S., Animal Science Research Beltsville, Maryland.

Division,

1972

hens. Davison and Sell (1971) found that 100 or 200 p.p.m. p,p'-DDT fed to chickens had no effect on egg weight, shell thickness or shell calcium. Another discrepancy in the literature concerns the nature of the residues found after DDT feeding. Body tissues and eggs of wild birds exposed to environmental contamination by technical DDT contain large amounts of p,p'-DDE (50-100% of the total residue—Tables 1 and 2). This is in conflict with controlled experiments in which pure p,p'-DDT was fed to birds and only 6-11% of the total residue found was p,p'-DDE (Bitman et al, 1969a; Stickel et al, 1966). Bitman et al. (1969a) found that the remaining 90% of the residue in quail adipose tissue was almost all p,p'DDT with only. 1% as p,p'-DDD. Stickel et al (1966), however, reported that cowbirds had total residues containing 51% p,p'-DDT, 42% p,p'-DDD and 6% p,p'DDE.

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(Received for publication April 30, 1971)

DDT

131

AND EGG SHELL THICKNESS

T A B L E 1.—p,p'-DDT, p,p-DDE and p,p'-DDD residues in eggs of birds after accidental exposure or dietary treatment with DDT or Us analogues1

Species

Keith (1966) Ames (1966) T a t t o n & Ruzicka (1967) Risebrough et al. (1967) Ibid Wurster & Wingate (1968) Anderson et al. (1969) Ibid Johnson et al. (1970) Ibid

Herring Gull Osprey Penguin Cassin's Auklet Western Gull Bermuda Petrel Cormorant Pelican Coot; Teal Pheasant

Environmental Environmental Environmental Environmental Environmental Environmental Environmental Environmental Environmental Environmental

Smith et al. (1969) Ibid Bitman et al. (1969a) B i t m a n et al. (1969b) Noakes & Benfield (1965) Weihe (1967)

Japanese Japanese Japanese Japanese Chicken Chicken

100 p p m 100 p p m 100 p p m 100 p p m 50 p p m 200 p p m

Cummings et al. (1966) Cecil et al. (present study)

Chicken

1 2 8 4

Quail Quail Quail Quail

Chicken

Total % Residue Residue p.p.m. wet DDE DDT DDD weight

Treatment

Exposure Exposure (Maine) Exposure Exposure Exposure Exposure Exposure Exposure Exposure Exposure

p , p ' - D D T 40 days p , p ' - D D T 60 days p , p ' - D D T 45 days p , p ' - D D T 90 days tech D D T 105 days DDT3 70 days

0.45 p p m D D T { ™ § P . P p ; D ° T 4 } 96 days 50 p p m p , p ' - D D T

981 130 0.029 10.8 6.5 11.02 10.6 2.2 .06-.88 .01-.07

89 91 72 96 82 58 98 77 64 51

8 5 27 0.3 8 37 2 4 26 49

402 84« 188« 244 15.4 380 0.370

45 38 9 20 46 21 24

55 62 90 80 33 79 76

27

73

41.6

98 days

— — — — — — — — — —

3 4 1 1 8 5

— 18 7

—

40 84 188 244 75 190 82

— 1 — 21 — — —

83

References cited limited to those which reported the analogues of DDT found in the egg contents. Data converted from p.p.m. yolk to p.p.m. egg contents. Reference did not state whether the pure p,p'- or technical grade DDT was used. The pure isomers of DDT were mixed together.

The present study reports the effects of feeding various levels of p,p'-DDT, o,p'DDT, or p,p'-DDE on egg weight, egg shell thickness and egg shell calcium content in White Leghorn laying hens. The accumulation of pesticide residues is determined in the egg contents and body lipid. Data on reproductive performance on these birds were presented in a companion paper (Lillie etal, 1972).

EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURE

The 10 groups of 20 White Leghorn hens used by Lillie et al. (1972) were the source of eggs in this study. The hens were fed 5, 25, or 50 p.p.m. of either p,p'-DDT 2 , o,p'DDT 2 , or p,p'-DDE 2 in a standard breeder 2 The p , p ' - D D T , [l,l,l-trichloro-2,2-bis (pchlorophenyl)] e t h a n e ; o , p ' - D D T , [1,1,1-trichloro2-(o-chlorophenyl), 2-(p-chlorophenyl)] ethane; and p,p'-DDE, [l,l-dichloro-2,2-bis(p-chloro-

T A B L E 2.—p,p'-DDT, p,p'-DDE and p,p'-DDD residues in fat of birds after accidental dietary treatment with DDT or its analogues.*

Reference Sladen et al. (1966) Tatton & Ruzicka (1967) Ibid Ibid Risebrough et al. (1967) Ibid

Species Penguin (o") Penguin ( 9 ) Skua Shag Cassin's Auklet Western Gull

Bitman et al. (1969a) Japanese Quail Bitman et al. (1969b) Japanese Quail Stickel et al. (1966) Cowbirds Noakes & Benfield (1965) Chicken Cummings et al. (1967) Chicken Ecobichon & Saschenbrecker (1968) Ibid Donaldson et al. (1968) Cecil et al. (present study) 1 2

Residue as % of Dietary Level

Chicken Chicken Chicken Chicken

Residue Total % Residue Residue as%of Dietary p.p.m. wet D D E DDT DDD Level weight

Treatment Environmental Exposure Environmental Exposure Environmental Exposure Environmental Exposure Environmental Exposure Environmental Exposure 100 ppm p,p'-DDT 45 days 100 ppm p,p'-DDT 90 days 500 ppm p,p'-DDT 8-12 days 50 ppm tech. DDT 105 days 0.45 ppm D D T ^ ^ o'p'-DDT } 9 6 250 ^g tech. DDT/day 2 500 ng tech. DDT/day* 100 ppm p,p'-DDT 14 days 50 ppm p,p'-DDT 264 days

exposure or

.024-.152 55-100 0-45 80 20 .040 17.58 89 11 .113 84 16 56 92 2 211 94