Easy access to the insecticide fipronil and some farmers’ misconceptions about the use of insecticides on hens could explain the discovery of eggs contaminated with fipronil, a government official said yesterday.
Hens often have lice or insects on them that need to be removed, Changhua County Animal Disease Control Center Director Tung Mang-chih (董孟治) said.
Eggs from 13 farms in the county have been found to contain excessive levels of fipronil.
Photo provided by the Taoyuan Department of Health
Veterinarians have provided farmers with disinfectant water to treat their hens and told them not to use certain insecticides on poultry, he said.
However, some poultry farmers misuse insecticides and rely on previous experience or information from peers, Tung said.
There are also no restrictions on the purchase of fipronil and customers are not required to present their ID when buying the insecticide, he said.
A nationwide inspection found contaminated eggs at 44 farms, 13 of which were in the county.
Restrictions on four of the farms have since been lifted, while nine are still undergoing inspections.
As of yesterday, 803 boxes of eggs weighing about 8,000kg were still sealed at the farms.
An official from the county’s Public Health Bureau yesterday said that inspectors had discovered 10 bottles of fipronil at a livestock farm while trying to establish the whereabouts of the contaminated eggs.
Although the owner of the farm denied ever using the insecticide, the manufacturing date on the bottles was 2015 and they were to expire by December, indicating that the farmer could have been using fipronil for years.
The Council of Agriculture on Friday said that concentrations of the insecticide in samples from the 44 farms exceeded 5 parts per billion, or 0.005mg/kg — the maximum residue amount as determined by the EU.
Taiwan follows the EU standard.
Following the findings, the council barred the farms in Changhua, Nantou, Chiayi and Pingtung counties and Kaohsiung, Taichung and Tainan from removing any eggs from their premises.
The discovery of contaminated eggs in Taiwan follows similar incidents in Europe and Asia.
The WHO considers fipronil to be “moderately toxic” to humans.
Long-term exposure can cause damage to the kidneys, liver and the thyroid gland, it says.
It can also cause “nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, dizziness and epileptic seizures,” the WHO says.
The US Environmental Protection Agency has classified fipronil as a possible human carcinogen based on studies that have found an increase in thyroid follicular cell tumors in rats.
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