PCB contamination in the egg due to contaminated soil

Contaminated asphalt Cause of PCB loaded eggs

02/06/2012

After weeks of guesswork about the causes of PCB contamination in eggs from an organic farm in the district of Oldenburg, there is finally clarity. Already at the beginning of May, the company was closed because of clear limit value overruns, since then, the authorities were looking for the source of stress. „The cause of the maximum exceedance of non-dioxin-like PCBs in eggs of a farm in the district of Oldenburg has now been determined“, Yesterday's message from the Lower Saxony Ministry of Food, Agriculture, Consumer Protection and Regional Development. Significant elevated levels of PCB have been found in the investigation of soil materials from the operating area.

Asphalt material cause of PCB stress
Just over a month ago, the peak in the eggs of the plant was 80 nanograms of PCB (polychlorinated biphenyls) per gram of egg fat; where only 40 nanograms are allowed, have become known. The operation was blocked. But clearly more than 400,000 eggs were already „delivered to various states and the Netherlands by the end of April via the packing center“, reports the Lower Saxony Ministry of Agriculture. There followed a comprehensive recall. Since then, the authorities are searching for the source of PCB pollution. The evaluation of the soil samples has now shown that high contents of PCBs and dioxins are contained in particular in the asphalt material which was used for ground attachment in the area of ​​the run-off fence. „According to the available test results, it is considered that this material was the cause of the entry of PCB into the food chain“, so the message of the Ministry of Agriculture in Hanover on Friday. The hens probably picked up the material while picking.

Renovation of PCB contaminated soil pledged
According to the Lower Saxony Ministry of Agriculture, the organic farm from Oldenburg has promised to redevelop the spout and also eliminate the asphalt under the outlet fence. This was originally used there to prevent the chickens pawing their way to freedom. After the removal of the contaminated material and production of a new substrate, the plant will be equipped with new laying hens. The 1,800 chickens, which laid fresh organic eggs every day until the beginning of May, have already been killed due to PCB stress. Are the deficiencies corrected?, „egg production may be resumed, with close official control of the holding continuing for the time being“, explained the Lower Saxony Ministry of Agriculture. In what form the underground should be rehabilitated or designed in the future, could not say the Ministry, since this lies in the self-responsibility of the enterprises.

PCB load in other plants
Although the elucidation of the PCB contamination in the Oldenburger Bio-Hof is quite gratifying, in the past few months increased levels of PCB and / or dioxin have also been detected in the eggs of some other companies. For example, there was a corresponding load on eggs from three farms in the district of Aurich (Lower Saxony) and at a farm in the North Rhine-Westphalian district of Borken. What causes the contamination of the eggs here could still be unclear. According to information from the Lower Saxony Ministry of Agriculture, the results of the samples from Aurich can only be calculated in two weeks at the earliest. According to information from the North Rhine-Westphalian State Office for Nature, Environment and Consumer Protection (LANUV) soil samples for laboratory tests were taken at the Borken site, but the results are still outstanding.

Little outrage over dioxin and PCB scandals
Again and again, eggs are exposed to excessive levels of dioxins and PCBs. Although in most cases there is no threat of acute health risk, as a hardly degradable environmental toxin, the potentially carcinogenic substances accumulate in the organism over time and thus any increased uptake of PCB or dioxin can have a negative impact on health. However, with news of contaminated breakfast eggs overshadowing the other in recent months, consumers seem to be beginning to dull. Public outrage over the latest reports on PCB contaminated eggs from the Borken district was rather limited. However, the numerous dioxin scandals of recent years have caused at least on the part of the policy for reactions. Thus, an early warning system was established, which among other things obligated also private laboratories to inform the responsible authorities immediately if proof of dioxin values ​​above the limit value. In addition, as the contamination was often food-borne, the penalty for manufacturers of contaminated feed was also increased. Overall, the policy hopes in this way to better prevent in the future that contaminated breakfast eggs in the trade.

Stricter controls of eggs on PCB and dioxin
In the short term, however, the tightened regulations - especially with regard to the obligation to register - have led to more cases of dioxin and PCB contamination becoming known to the public, explained the Lower Saxony Minister of Agriculture Gert Lindemann (CDU). Thus, Lindemann sees in the current evidence also a confirmation of the successful implementation of tightened control mechanisms. Opposite the „world“ Lindemann explained, showing the cases, „that monitoring works and loads are noticed faster.“ The Lower Saxony Minister of Agriculture added that „in the future more cases will become known than we were used to in the past.“ Concerning the danger of a dulling of the public against the reports about contaminated breakfast eggs Lindemann stressed: „We must expect the people to cope with this transparency“, because in an emergency it is „important that the findings be published immediately and consumers informed.“

PCB contamination of the soil
Perhaps the latest news about PCB and dioxin in the breakfast egg are just the tip of the iceberg. Because unlike the increased contamination that has occurred in the past due to contaminated feed, the contamination of the Oldenburger Bio-Hof is due to the PCB concentration in the soil, and the plants from Aurich and Borken could also be exposed to the soil , But this has been here in most cases for years, so that the contamination would have been noticeable earlier. Often, contaminated sites in the soil, such as waste oils containing PCBs, are the cause of the contamination, according to the authorities. The actual pollution could be years ago and, for example, caused by previous production processes. Polychlorinated biphenyls are a chemical „Material, which one finds approximately in the oil of transformers ", so the information of a spokesman of the North-Rhine / Westphalian state office for nature, environment and consumer protection in Recklinghausen.Haussachsen Minister of Agriculture added that we „of course also know of cases in which such substances have been disposed of illegally.“ Another possibility of contamination could Lindemann be unnoticed leakage of oil from a machine, which then seeps into the ground and causes a punctual load. (Fp)

Read about:
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Dioxin in eggs: The scandal is expanding
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Dioxin eggs also in Lower Saxony
Dioxin in organic eggs: causes still unknown
Easter with dioxin eggs from the organic farm
Dioxin eggs could have entered the market
Easily recognize fresh eggs
Health risk from dioxin eggs

Picture: Birgit H