Abstract
A porcine fat sample taken as part of the national residues monitoring programme in 2008 led to the detection of a major feed contamination incidence in the Republic of Ireland. The source of the contamination was traced back to the use of contaminated oil in a direct-drying feed operation system. Congener profiles in animal fat and feed samples showed a high level of consistency and pinpointed the likely source of fuel contamination to be a highly chlorinated commercial PCB mixture.
Acknowledgements
The authors wish to thank the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food for its assistance in compiling the data. In particular they would like to extend their gratitude to Peter Maher, Michael Gunn, Mary Kavanagh, Pat Brangan, and Liam Hyde for their time and effort. They also thank the Environmental Protection Agency, in particular Ian Marnane, for the provision of data relating to the contamination in oil. They also acknowledge the professional services provided by FERA, RIKILT and SAL.