Risk Assessment of Nine Coccidiostats in Commercial and Home-Raised Eggs.

The poultry industry, in order to prevent and control coccidiosis caused by Eimeria spp. , widely uses coccidiostats as feed additives. The main objective of this study was to evaluate the presence of nine coccidiostats in 62 egg samples by UHPLC-MS/MS. Overall, detection frequency and average concentration were 90.3% (56/62) and 106.3 μg kg -1 , respectively. Only diclazuril and nicarbazin were detected. Diclazuril, only found in home-raised eggs, showed an overall detection frequency of 8.1% (5/62), with average and maximum concentrations of 0.46 ± 1.90 μg kg -1 and 13.6 μg kg -1 , respectively. Nicarbazin presented an overall higher frequency, 88.7% (55/62), with levels up to 744.8 μg kg -1 . Additionally, four samples (6.5%) presented both nicarbazin and diclazuril. Home-raised egg samples ( n = 28) showed a detection frequency of 89.3%, with nicarbazin found in more samples (85.7% vs. 17.9%) and at higher levels (266.3 ± 169.4 μg kg -1 vs. 0.91 ± 2.78 μg kg -1 ) when compared to diclazuril. In supermarket samples ( n = 34), only nicarbazin was detected in 31 samples (91.1%), with an average of 167.6 ± 62.2 μg kg -1 . Considering the average contamination scenario, consumers' health should not be adversely affected by egg consumption. In every scenario considered, children were the most vulnerable population group.