Animal Bioavailability of Defined Xenobiotic Lignin Metabolites.

Lignin has been recognized as a major component of bound pesticide residues in plants and is thought to be undigestible in animals. Two defined ring-U-14C-labeled chloroaniline/lignin metabolites have now been fed to rats, where a release of ∼66% of the bound xenobiotic occurred in the form of simple chloroaniline derivatives. The observed high degree of bioavailability indicates that bound pesticidal residues may possess ecotoxicological significance. In parallel studies, the white-rot fungus Phanerochaete chrysosporium was more efficient, and a soil system was much less efficient, in the degradation of the [ring-U-14C]chloroaniline/lignin metabolites