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From Forest to Fork - Contamination of game meat through bullet particles. A study of bullet abrasions and fragmentation.
Project
Project code: BfR-SiN-08-1322-685
Contract period: 01.01.2017
- 31.12.2017
Purpose of research: Applied research
In Germany, about 23,500 tonnes of game meat DJV 2015), mostly wild boar (Sus scrofa) 11,145 tonnes , roe deer (Capreolus capreolus) 8,421 tonnes and Red deer (Cervus elaphus) 3,885 tonnes are hunted and consumed. In addition, in the years 2010 to 2014, an average of 19593 tonnes of wild boar and meat from other game animals were imported (EMA, Bonn 2015, according to DJV 2015). Approximately one third of imports were from third patry countries (Australia, New Zealand, South Africa) and two thirds from EU countries. 55% of game meat sold in Germany is therefor produced in Germany, 27% in other EU countries and 18% in third party countries. In the context of hunting of wild animals in Germany for the production of a high-quality food, the ''production method'' is defined as the shooting of vital organs of the animal with a projectile destined for the purpose of killing wild animals in hunting adherent to the legal requirements for this activity, by a person who has been expertly tested for the performance in this activity. In its own studies, the Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR) has determined that the meat of animals slaughtered in hunting operations (game meat) can be contaminated with bullet material to such degree, that removal of the particles by food hygienic steps can not be ensured (BfR, 2014). The BfR has clarified the subject in various events and has issued recommendations for the hunters how these contaminations can be reduced or avoided altogether. Until such measures take effect and further recognizing that about 45% of game meat consumed in Germany is produced outside the scope of the Federal Hunting Act, methodology for spot checks of traded game meat should be made available. To this end, a standard procedure for routine investigations of wild-caught game by means of radiological methods for the detection of bullet residues in the different stages of treatment of game meat in the production process shall be developed. In a further study of the BfR (2015, unpublished) the influence of different preparation techniques (i. e. pickling) on the bioavailability of lead as a principal bullet component was investigated. Venison was obtained from animals slaughtered with common, lead-containing ammuntion, prepared and fed in homogenized form in an approved feeding experiment to domestic pigs, which had then blood taken after the meal. This was examined for the lead content. Again, it became clear that a more accurate knowledge of abrasions and fragmentation as forms of deposits of bullet material in the animal body is necessary in form of frequency distributions of the fragment sizes and fragmentation masses for an understanding of bioavailability and toxicokinetics. There is no standard procedure for this type of study. Gremse et al. 2014 describe the possibilities of using computer tomographic examinations and imaging analytical methods for the detection and enumeration of plot shots in shot media (resolution up to 0.3 mm). In a further experiment (ongoing and unpublished) the possibilities of the use of micro-CTs were investigated (resolution up to 0.01 mm). Examplatory, one roe deer (Capreolus capreolus) was examined as part of a work contract in December 2015: 1) the metal particles are dispersed in the wild body by the production process and 2) the number is reduced by wildbrethygienic processing steps in the final transportable carcass. The results of the detection method were compared by examination of the animal body in various processing steps in computed tomography (CT) by comparison images in the X-ray machine. The project was exhibited at the BfR stand at the ''International Green Week 2016'' in Berlin in the form of a poster. In this proposed project, the possibilities of the above mentioned methods are to be further investigated, standardized in the second step, and nanotechnological methods (eg field-flow fractionation) are to be included.
Section overview
Subjects
- Animal health
- Wildlife Biology
- Toxicology
