Chlorpromazine Residues in Beef Tissues

Abstract

Evidence is presented on the fate of chlorpromazine hydrochloride and chlorpromazine sulfoxide in the bovine. An intravenous injection of 0.19 mg./lb. live weight was not sufficient to produce tranquility; 0.25 mg./lb. visibly depressed docile animals. For more easily excited range stock, a dosage of 0.4 mg./lb. was required. Approximately 11 to 12% of the injected dose was lost in the urine during the first 24-hours after injection. The urine contained hemoglobin, indicating red blood cell hemolysis. Tissue was damaged at the site of intramuscular injections. Small quantities of residual chlorpromazine hydrochloride were found in the fat, brain, heart, lung and kidney of those animals receiving 0.4 mg./lb. body weight when slaughtered 8 hours after injection. Animals held for 72 hours had no detectable residual compound in any of the tissues. No residual form of the drug was found in any of the lean tissues, regardless of dose level. When chlorpromazine hydrochloride was purposely introduced into the muscle, it was bound in the tissue. Once in this form it was not lost during the normal cooler holding period. Heat was not an adequate means of destroying the drug once it became a tissue contaminant. Copyright © . .