Elimination of chloramphenicol, sulphamethoxazole and oxytetracycline in shrimp, Penaeus chinensis following medicated-feed treatment.

Muscle residue depletion of chloramphenicol (CAP), sulphamethoxazole (SMZ) and oxytetracycline (OTC) following oral administration was evaluated in shrimp, Penaeus chinensis under field conditions. Three groups of shrimps were cultured in tanks filled with seawater and fed a commercial medicated diet containing 2000 mg kg(-1) CAP, SMZ and OTC, respectively, twice daily for 3 days. Sampling was conducted at different intervals (0, 0.5, 1, 1.5, 2, 3, 4, 8, 10, 12, 16, 24, 36, 48, 72, 96, 120, 144, 168 h) after the cessation of medication. Drug analysis was carried out by HPLC. The elimination half-life (t(1/2)) of CAP was 10.04 h, the elimination half-life (t(1/2)) of SMZ was 5.68 h and that of OTC was 16.12 h. If the EU MRPL value of 0.3 ng/g for CAP and MRL value of 0.1 microg/g for SMZ and OTC quoted for muscle from finfish is extended to shrimp muscle, extrapolation of the data indicates that it would be passed after a 139.7 h (95% CI=132.0-144.4 h), 30.6 h (95% CI=27.2-33.1 h), 90.3 h (95% CI=87.9-92.5 h) withdrawal period for CAP, SMZ and OTC in shrimp muscle, respectively.