DDT and metabolite accumulation in adrenal, liver, and brain of broiler chickens.

Four-week old broiler chickens were fed rations with varying levels of technical grade DDT for a 4-week period. DDT and metabolite concentrations were measured in adrenal, liver, and brain. Accumulations per gram of tissue were greatest in the adrenals, followed by those in the liver, then in the brain. All birds fed 2700 p.p.m. of DDT died with 12 days after beginning feeding, and moderate signs of toxicity, such as ataxia and trembling, appeared in those fed 900 p.p.m. Although both DDT metabolites, p,p'-DDE and p,p'-DDD, were found in the tissues, the higher levels of the former indicated that the aerobic conversion of DDE occurs more readily than the anaerobic conversion. Significant quantities of o,p'-DDT appear only in tissues of birds fed high levels of the technical grade DDT.