Tissue Deposition and Residue Depletion in Broiler Exposed to Melamine-Contaminated Diets

To investigate the tissue deposition and elimination of melamine (MEL) in broilers, a total of 1 920 commercial 1-d-old male Cobb broilers were randomly allotted to 6 treatments with diets contaminated by MEL at 0, 2, 10, 30, 50, 100 mg kg(-1) of diet for 42 d, and followed MEL withdrawal from diet at 50 or 100 mg kg(-1) of diet for 96 h. The MEL was found in residue of plasma, liver, kidney, breast, and leg muscle with the highest level in kidney and in dose response manner (except in kidney), but no time response (except in plasma). The MEL residue in organ tissue was below the safe level of 50 mu g mL(-1) in blood or 50 mu g kg(-1) in tissues proposed by the US FSIS when MEL in diet was lower (2 mg kg(-1)). The MEL in tissues was eliminated by withdrawal MEL from diets. The elimination half-life of MEL was from 3.2 to 6.6 h, and the clearance time, when MEL residue concentration under limit detection, was from 18.0 to 31.4 h.