The application of chlordecone (CLD), a chlorinated polycyclic ketone pesticide, until 1993 in the French West Indies has resulted in long-term pollution of agricultural soils (10% of them exceed 1 mg kg(-1)). The aim of this study was to assess the impact of two tropical volcanic soils, an andosol and a nitisol, on CLD availability in piglets, using the relative bioavailability (RBA) approach For both soils and relative to an oil matrix, RBA was close to 100%, indicating that CLD was not retained in the soil matrices during the piglet digestive process. Additionally, after a 14 day exposure period, liver and subcutaneous fat CLD concentrations exceeded the maximum residue limit (10 mu g kg(-1) of fresh matter and 100 mu g kg(-1) of fat for liver and subcutaneous fat, respectively) beyond a CLD ingestion of 2.1 and 6.8 mu g CLD kg(-1) of body weight per day, respectively. Thus, rearing practices in CLD-contaminated areas should avoid involuntary soil ingestion by farm animals.