Risk assessment of fluoroquinolones from poultry muscle consumption: Comparing healthy adult and pre-school populations.

Antibiotics, especially fluoroquinolones (FQs), have been largely used in animal husbandry namely poultry production. Therefore, this study aimed to identify, quantify and estimate the daily intake for adult and 3-year-old populations of the FQs norfloxacin (NOR), ciprofloxacin (CIP) and enrofloxacin (ENR) through poultry muscle consumption. The results showed detection frequencies of 78% and 62% in supermarket and school canteen samples, respectively. Of the 182 analysed samples, 4 did not comply with ENR maximum residue level (MRL), and 9 were contaminated with NOR, not allowed as a veterinary medicine of food-producing animals. The highest estimated daily intake value was obtained for the 3-year-old population regarding the sum of ENR and CIP (0.46 μg kg-1 day-1); value substantially lower than the established acceptable daily intake (2.0 μg kg-1 day-1). Although the low risk found, the high detection frequencies support the apprehension of the different international organizations, towards the emergence of human bacterial resistances to FQs originated from poultry production.