January 30, 2012
US Maryland introduces arsenic feed ban in chicken feed
US Maryland has introduced a bill to ban the use of potentially harmful arsenic drugs in chicken feed, causing some local poultry officials to be concerned over state legislators crossing their boundaries.
Production of Roxarsone, an antibiotic containing arsenic that promotes growth in chickens, temporarily ceased this summer when the federal Food and Drug Administration discovered the drug increases cancer-causing inorganic arsenic in chicken liver. The FDA did not test chicken muscle, the meat most people eat.
Now, two western shore politicians, Delegate Tom Hucker, D-20-Montgomery, and Sen. Paul Pinsky, D-22-Prince George''s are working to ensure the drug cannot be used in Maryland when pharmaceutical company Pfizer resumes Roxarsone production. The state Ban Arsenic in Agriculture Act (HB 167/SB 207) was introduced this week.
Perdue Farms Inc. stopped using Roxarsone in its feedin April 2007, "as we improved our flock health and management programs," said spokeswoman Julie DeYoung. "We''ve found that through improved flock health programs and housing environments, we are able to produce healthy chickens without it."
DeYoung said while the legislation under consideration does not affect Perdue, the company has concerns about state-by-state regulation that supersedes federal agencies.
"Especially on Delmarva, where poultry companies may operate across three states, potentially making feed in one state for chickens raised in another, such fragmented rules would make it very difficult to run our business," she said.
Bill Satterfield, executive director of the Delmarva Poultry Industry, said a decision regarding Roxarsone should be made at the federal level, where the authority already exists.
"(DPI) believes the state of Maryland does not have the technology or infrastructure in place to do a thorough and scientifically valid analysis to determine if there should be a state prohibition," Satterfield said. "The FDA has a lot of technical expertise that individual states don''t have."
But Hucker said whether the ban is enacted by the state or the feds makes no difference, so long as it''s done.
A study released last month by the University of Maryland''s Hughes Center for Agro-Ecology Inc. determined it''s possible the arsenic found in the manure of chickens treated with Roxarsone could runoff into the state''s waterways.
The study says in 2009, Maryland ranked eighth and 10th, respectively, among all states in terms of number of pounds of broilers produced. The majority of this production is on the Delmarva Peninsula which, given its relatively small land area, is one of the most concentrated poultry production areas in the US The "poultry litter" from chicken houses is applied to the area''s agricultural fields as organic fertilizer.
The study indicates that arsenic is highly water soluble, and enters the groundwater as soon as it''s applied to a field. However, movement is limited due to the high capacity for binding of arsenic to minerals in the soil.
"The scientific literature makes it clear that once applied to fields in poultry litter, arsenic is able to runoff into receiving waters," the study reads.
The study touched on human health hazards, stating arsenic has been determined to be a human carcinogen, with low-level, long-term exposure causing cancers of the lung, bladder, kidney and skin in addition to other adverse health consequences.
In 1999, the European Union discontinued use of arsenical drugs and in 2006, McDonald''s asked its poultry facilities to not use arsenic additives in their operations.
"The biggest chicken consumer in the world is McDonald''s and they refuse to buy chicken that has been given Roxarsone," Hucker said. "It should be disturbing to all of us to think the chicken we buy in the store and get in schools is of lower quality than what McDonald''s purchases."
Hucker also said it does not make sense to continue cleanup of the Chesapeake Bay if the state allows use of arsenical drugs that could end up in the waterways.
A bill hearing will be held over the next few weeks where a broad coalition includes fishermen, consumers and environmentalists will testify in favour of the ban, Hucker said.
"We hope to get the bill moved this year," he added.
Roxarsone was approved by the FDA in 1944 for the prevention of coccidiosis, which invades the intestinal cells of poultry which can cause death. Farmers soon discovered it had other uses and, in 1951, the FDA approved the drug to promote growth, feed efficiency and improve pigmentation.