Department Safety in the Food Chain, German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment, Max-Dohrn-Str. 8-10, 10589 Berlin, Germany.
Institute of Animal Science, University of Hohenheim, Emil-Wolff-Str. 10, 70599 Stuttgart, Germany.
Animal. 2021 Sep;15(9):100319. doi: 10.1016/j.animal.2021.100319. Epub 2021 Jul 30.
Bedding, environmental enrichment materials and disinfectant powders in pig farming are meant to ensure a hygienic bedding environment or allow pigs to perform explorative behaviour. To our knowledge, no legal regulation exists, that established maximum contents for undesirable substances, such as toxic metals, dioxins or trace elements in these materials, although oral ingestion could be expected. In the present study, a total of 74 materials (disinfectant powders [n = 51], earth/peat [n = 12], biochar [n = 8], recycled manure solids [n = 3]) were analysed for their content of various toxic metals, trace elements, dioxins and polychlorinated biphenyls. The data suggest that, in some samples, trace elements like iron, copper and zinc might have been added intentionally in order to induce physiological effects (iron supply to piglets, copper and zinc as growth promoter in pigs). Moreover, some materials contained high levels of lead, cadmium or arsenic. Consequently, if farm animals repeatedly consume environmental enrichment and bedding materials or disinfectant powders in considerable amounts and these quantities are added to the daily ration, the amount of ingested undesirable substances and trace elements might exceed the maximum levels set for complete feedstuffs, and an elevated transfer into food of animal origin might occur. Future studies are required to address the possible quantitative contribution in the light of feed and food safety. Finally, the excretion of undesirable substances with manure needs to be considered due to their possible accumulation in soils.
养猪场中的床上用品、环境丰富材料和消毒剂粉末旨在确保卫生的床上用品环境或允许猪进行探索性行为。据我们所知，尽管可以预期会通过口服摄入，但这些材料中并没有关于有毒金属、二恶英或微量元素等有害物质的最大含量的法律规定。在本研究中，共分析了 74 种材料（消毒剂粉末 [n = 51]、土/泥炭 [n = 12]、生物炭 [n = 8]、再生粪便固体 [n = 3]）的各种有毒金属、微量元素、二恶英和多氯联苯含量。数据表明，在一些样本中，铁、铜和锌等微量元素可能是为了诱导生理效应而有意添加的（为仔猪提供铁、铜和锌作为猪的生长促进剂）。此外，一些材料含有高浓度的铅、镉或砷。因此，如果农场动物反复大量消耗环境丰富和床上用品材料或消毒剂粉末，并且这些数量被添加到日常饲料中，那么摄入的有害物质和微量元素的量可能会超过完整饲料设定的最大水平，并且可能会发生动物源性食品中这些物质的含量增加。需要进行未来的研究，以根据饲料和食品安全的角度来确定其可能的定量贡献。最后，由于它们可能在土壤中积累，因此需要考虑粪便中有害物质的排泄问题。
