November 13, 2013
Brazil to develop methods to detect drug residues in fish
In an aim to detect veterinary drug residues in fish that may be useful for sanitary surveillance programmes, a team of researchers from Brazil''s State University of Campinas (Unicamp) coordinated to develop methods for the detection.
Coordinated by Felix Guillermo Reyes, professor at the Food Engineering School at Unicamp, the group has been joined by researchers from the Institute of Chemistry of Unicamp, of the Paulista State University (UNESP) and the Brazilian Agricultural Research Company (EMBRAPA).
"We''re going to study how veterinary drugs are absorbed and metabolised by the three fish species having the highest commercial value in Brazil: tilapia, pacu and tambaquí," Reyes explains.
He said they are going to perform studies on the residue depletion, particularly in fish fillets, which is the consumed part in order to know how long it takes for the administered substance to reach the maximum allowable limit and to avoid being risky to human health.
Moreover, scientists seek to establish the latency period between the time the latest medicine is administered and when the fish is slaughtered for consumption. As part of the studies, analytical methods will be developed to determine specific molecules and methods for several residues.
Regarding the point of view of surveillance, one of the objectives is to evaluate the use of unapproved substances for fish farming.
Currently there are only two registered antimicrobials in the country for use in fish farming, but it is suspected that producers are using registered products for other animals to treat diseases, Reyes stated.
In addition to posing a threat to consumer health, the uncontrolled use of veterinary drugs in aquaculturecan lead to environmental damage and contribute to the development of bacterial resistance to the existing antimicrobials.
The researchers noted that some of these substances were studied in other countries for use in aquaculture but the results are not necessarily valid for Brazil because the environmental conditions are different and the studied species too.
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