The poultry industry, in order to prevent and control coccidiosis caused by Eimeria spp., widely uses coccidiostats as feed additives. The main objective of this study was to evaluate the presence of nine coccidiostats in 62 egg samples by UHPLC-MS/MS. Overall, detection frequency and average concentration were 90.3% (56/62) and 106.3 μg kg-1, respectively. Only diclazuril and nicarbazin were detected. Diclazuril, only found in home-raised eggs, showed an overall detection frequency of 8.1% (5/62), with average and maximum concentrations of 0.46 ± 1.90 μg kg-1 and 13.6 μg kg-1, respectively. Nicarbazin presented an overall higher frequency, 88.7% (55/62), with levels up to 744.8 μg kg-1. Additionally, four samples (6.5%) presented both nicarbazin and diclazuril. Home-raised egg samples (n = 28) showed a detection frequency of 89.3%, with nicarbazin found in more samples (85.7% vs. 17.9%) and at higher levels (266.3 ± 169.4 μg kg-1 vs. 0.91 ± 2.78 μg kg-1) when compared to diclazuril. In supermarket samples (n = 34), only nicarbazin was detected in 31 samples (91.1%), with an average of 167.6 ± 62.2 μg kg-1. Considering the average contamination scenario, consumers' health should not be adversely affected by egg consumption. In every scenario considered, children were the most vulnerable population group.
Keywords: UHLC-MS/MS; coccidiostats; commercial vs. home-raised; eggs; ionophore; synthetic.