RIDASCREEN® Streptomycin

General information:

Next to the β-lactam antibiotics in veterinary medicine streptomycin is one of the mostly used antibiotics for the treatment of mastitis. Residues of streptomycin may therefore occur in food of animal origin, if the withholding period is not obeyed or if it is used improperly. High concentrations of streptomycin show ototoxic and nephrotoxic effects. The chronic exposure of humans with low concentrations, as found in food, may cause allergies, impair the intestinal flora and induce resistance of pathogenic microorganisms. To protect the consumer against health risks and avoid food-technological problems, a sensitive and simple method for the detection of streptomycin is necessary. The EU regulations for streptomycin are fixed in MRLs (maximum residue limits) for meat and milk (muscle and liver: 500 μg/kg, kidney: 1000 μg/kg and milk: 200 μg/l). In honey, the EU Community Reference Laboratories have determined a zero-tolerance with a minimum required performance limit of ccβ = 40 μg/kg for test systems.