Correlation between endemic chlordecone concentrations in three bovine tissues determined by isotopic dilution liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry

Highlights: • Occurrence and concentrations of chlordecone in fat, muscle and liver in 200 bovines • Chlordecone concentrations are correlated in fat, muscle and liver. • Correlation factors: 0.54 muscle/fat, 3.75 liver/fat, and 0.14 muscle/liver Chlordecone (CLD) is an organochlorine pesticide widely used from the 1970s to the 1990s in the French West Indies that induced long-term pollution of the ecosystem. Due to involuntary soil ingestion, some species bred in open-air areas can be contaminated. As CLD is distributed in various tissues depending on the breeding species, this study focuses on the distribution of CLD in bovines. For this purpose, three tissues, i.e. fat, muscle, and liver, from 200 bovines originating from Martinique and Guadeloupe were sampled in 2016 to determine their endemic contamination levels. Analyses were performed with the official method for veterinary controls, isotopic dilution liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry, which has been fully validated and which reaches a limit of quantification of 3 μg.kg⁻¹ fresh weight (fw). Irrespective of the matrices, CLD was detected in 68% of samples (404 samples above the LOD) and quantified in 59% of samples (332 samples above the LOQ). Regarding contamination levels, the liver had a broader range of concentrations (LOQ up to 420.6 μg.kg⁻¹ fw) than fat (LOQ up to 124.6 μg.kg⁻¹ fw) and muscle (LOQ up to 67.6 μg.kg⁻¹ fw). This confirms the atypical behaviour of CLD compared to other persistent organochlorine pollutants. Statistical processing demonstrated a correlation between CLD concentrations among the three studied tissues. The CLD concentration ratios were 0.54 for muscle/fat, 3.75 for liver/fat, and 0.14 for muscle/liver.