Evaluation of two contrasted activated carbon-based sequestration strategies to reduce soil-bound chlordecone bioavailability in piglets

Chlordecone (Kepone) (CLD) is a highly persistent pesticide formerly used in the French West Indies. High levels of this pesticide are still found in soils and represent a subsequent source of contamination for outdoor-reared animals which may ingest involuntary non negligible amounts of soil. In that context, sequestering matrices like activated carbons (ACs) may be used to efficiently decrease the bioavailability of such organic pollutants. The present study intends to assess the respective efficiency of two sequestering strategies where two different ACs were provided either via feed incorporation or via soil amendment. This study involved 20 piglets randomly distributed into 5 experimental groups (4 replicates). All groups were exposed to 10 μg of CLD per kg of BW per day during 10 days via a contaminated soil. In both “Soil-ACs” treatment groups, the contaminated soil was amended by 2% (mass basis) of one of the two ACs. The two “Feed-ACs” groups received the contaminated soil and one dough ball containing 0.5% (mass basis) of one of the ACs. The piglets were then euthanized before collection of pericaudal adipose tissue and the whole liver and CLD analysis. A significant decrease of CLD concentrations in liver and adipose tissue was observed only in the “Soil-ACs” groups in comparison with the control group (P < 0.001). This decrease was particularly important for the coconut shell activated carbon where relative bioavailability was found lower than 1.8% for both tissues.