Depletion of penicillin G residues in tissues and injection sites of yearling beef steers dosed with benzathine penicillin G alone or in combination with procaine penicillin G.
The contribution of benzathine penicillin G to residues in tissues and injection sites of yearling beef steers was assessed by treating seven groups of five to seven steers with either benzathine and procaine penicillin G together or benzathine penicillin G alone. Steers were injected with a commercial combination of benzathine and procaine penicillin G according to the Canadian (intramuscular) or United States (subcutaneous) label dosages of 8600 and 8800 IU penicillin G/kg body weight, respectively. They were killed 14 or 30 days after the intramuscular injections, and 30 days after the subcutaneous injections. At the label withdrawal times, Canadian 14 days and United States 30 days, the levels in the injection sites for all of the treatments were 30-60 times above the Canadian and United States' Maximum Residue Limit of 50 micrograms/kg, while liver, kidney and gluteal muscle levels were below the Maximum Residue Limit. Other steers were injected intramuscularly with 24,000 IU benzathine/procaine penicillin G/kg body weight and slaughtered 8, 14 or 50 days after injection. Fifty-day injection site residues were 24 times the Maximum Residue Limit. Another group of steers was injected intramuscularly with benzathine penicillin G alone at 12,000 IU/kg body weight and slaughtered 14 days later. Penicillin G levels in the injection sites were 156 times the Maximum Residue Limit. The persistence of penicillin G residues at the injection sites in all the treatment groups appears to be attributable primarily to benzathine penicillin G. Visual inspection of muscle surfaces did not reliably reveal all injection site lesions in the underlying musculature.