• Korean Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.44 no.6
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• pp.577-583
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• 2011

In 2007, pet food contaminated with melamine caused hundreds of dogs and cats to develop renal failure all over the world. In 2008, over 294,000 infants consumed infant formula and developed kidney stones in China. Further investigation revealed that fish feed also contained melamine; this raised concerns about melamine residues in edible fish tissues, which could have caused the urinary tract stone epidemic. In Korea, catfish fed with assorted feed that included cuttlefish organs that contained melamine developed whitening syndrome and fell dead in some populations in 2008. This event raised suspicions about the toxicity of melamine and all feeds containing melamine were immediately recalled. In this study, we investigated the rates of melamine accumulation and depletion in muscle and viscera of catfish to propose proper withdrawal periods. One group of catfish was fed a commercially available diet that contained 30, 100 and 300 mg melamine per kg diet for 14 days. To investigate residual melamine contents in muscle and viscera, other experimental groups were fed a melamine free diet after being fed melamine for 7 days. The residual amount of melamine was analyzed by LC-MS/MS. The melamine concentration in muscle was estimated to be 3.7 mg/kg after 6 days of feeding with a diet containing 300 mg melamine/kg. After 2 days of culture with a melamine free diet, the residual melamine was depleted and the concentration had decreased from 1.15 mg/kg to 0.19 mg/kg in the muscle of catfish fed a diet containing 300 mg melamine/kg for 7 days. The residual amount of melamine was reduced to 0.03 mg/kg in muscle after 7 days of culture with a melamine free diet and was undetectable after a prolonged culture period of 14 days. Catfish tend to excrete melamine rapidly after oral administration and changes in body color were not observed during the short dosing period.