[...]... analysis of VDs and GPAs in these commodities (foodstuffs and biological tissues and environment) is of relevance in terms of food safety, public health and environmental quality Introduction 5 1.2 CLASSIFICATION OF VETERINARY DRUGS AND GROWTH- PROMOTING AGENTS In general, the term ―antibacterial agent , also categorized as antiinfectives, anti-microbials or chemotherapeutics, includes natural and synthetic... OVERVIEW The use of veterinary drugs (VDs) and growth- promoting agents (GPAs) is widely extended in farming practice The estimated annual consumption of antimicrobials in the European Union (EU) and in the United States (US) is around 10,000 metric tons in each About half the total antibiotics in the EU are used for livestock production [1] These compounds are administered via feed additives and/ or drinking... impurities and TPs (e.g erythromycin A plus B, C, D, E and F, and several TPs) [2,4,6] 4) Tetracyclines (TCs) The basic structure of TCs is composed by a hydro-naphtacene framework containing four fused rings and different substituents at the C5, C6 and C7 position on the backbone (Figure 2) These antibiotics show broad-spectrum activity against Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria, and they are... TCs Anderson et al [19] thoroughly described the different impurities and other interesting characteristics of TCs 5) Sulphonamides Sulphonamides are derivatives of sulfanilamide and show amphoteric characteristics They comprise a large number of synthetic bacteriostatic compounds which are widely used for prophylactic and therapeutic purposes, and as growth promoters because of their low cost and. .. several amino Introduction 9 groups and/ or neutral sugars are bound They are applied in veterinary medicine to treat respiratory diseases, enteric infections and to promote growth as feed additives Erythromycin, lincomycin, spiramycin and tylosin are typical examples of macrolides (Figure 2) These compounds distribute extensively to tissues, especially lungs, liver and kidney In this sense, in certain... Directive 2004/28/CE The increasing interest in checking and controlling the use of VDs resulted in the set- up of the European Agency of evaluation of medicaments (EMEA) in 1995 The main responsibility of this Agency is the protection and promotion of public and animal health, through the evaluation and supervision of medicines for human and veterinary use It contributes to the international activities... complementary regulation about homeopathic veterinary drugs Directive of the Council 96/22/CE which prohibition the employed of growth promoting agents (β-agonists, hormones…) Regulation (CE) 324/2004 changing the Annex I of Regulation (CEE) No 2377/90 European Commission (EC) 17/04/2007, COM (2007) 194 final, 2007/0064 (COD) Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council laying down Community... legislations, rules and regulations have been established regarding human health, food safety and environmental protection In the US, MRLs or tolerances for VDs/GPAs in foodstuffs can be found in the Code of Federal Regulations, namely Title 21 (Food and Drugs, 500-600) [35] In Canada, the Department of Health is in charge of administering a variety of pieces of legislation, and develops and enforces regulation... to livestock, such as anthelmintics and tranquilizers; these two groups can also be considered as VDs On the other hand, GPAs can be divided into β-agonists and hormones; this last group comprises anabolic steroids (ASs), costicosteroids and thyreostats In the present Chapter, a more detailed classification is shown in Figure 1 1.2.1 Anthelmintics Anthelmintics are drugs used primarily against intestinal... applied in the prevention and treatment of coccidiosis In the EU, the use of several coccidiostats as chicken feed additive in certain conditions is permitted in most countries Feed and egg are the most common matrices in coccidiostat analysis [4] 7.1) Nitroimidazoles Nitroimidazoles are coccidiostats utilized to prevent and treat certain bacterial and protozoal diseases in poultry and for swine dysentery .