Post by Moses on May 5, 2004 16:30:33 GMT -5
Arsenic threat to chicken eaters at issue
By JOHN VANDIVER
Daily Times Staff Writer
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SALISBURY -- People who eat chicken are consuming higher levels of arsenic than previously estimated, which could pressure reform to U.S. food production policy, according to a researcher with the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.
The poultry industry uses arsenic-laced drugs to facilitate growth in chickens, but the practice could pose an increased risk of cancer for consumers, said Ellen Silbergeld in a paper published Monday in the peer-reviewed journal Environmental Health Perspectives.
Silbergeld said she is researching the industry's use of arsenic additives in chicken feed, which raises health and environmental concerns.
Silbergeld's article responded to a paper in the January edition of Environmental Health Perspectives that stated arsenic levels are three to four times higher in poultry than other meats, stemming from certain chicken feed additives.
Tamar Lasky, the lead author of the U.S. Department of Agriculture report published in January, said arsenic levels in chicken are still below the legal limit. But the higher-than-expected level in chicken raises questions about poultry's impact on the total amount of arsenic people consume, she said.
Roxarsone, a federally approved arsenic-based additive, has been used by the poultry industry for decades to control intestinal parasites in chickens.
Silbergeld said the USDA study underestimates the amount of arsenic in chicken, which she said could be up to 10 times higher than Lasky estimates.
Lasky's report estimated the concentrations of arsenic in muscle depend on the only USDA data available -- analyses of liver concentrations, Silbergeld said.
"It would be interesting to know why the USDA does not analyze arsenic in muscle, the tissue most commonly consumed by humans," she wrote in the report.
Questions about arsenic in chicken comes at a time when people are eating more poultry than ever. In 1970, the average person consumed 40.1 pounds of chicken a year, but by 1997 the amount increased to 71.8 pounds, according to the USDA.
Richard Lobb, a spokesman for the National Chicken Council, said Lasky's and Silbergeld's reports are without merit and are "much ado about nothing."
He said tests consistently show arsenic levels in chickens are well below standards set by the Food and Drug Administration.
Silbergeld also said arsenic in chicken feed presents an environmental risk to the Delmarva Peninsula, where more than 500 million birds are grown each year.
When chickens excrete arsenic in manure, sunlight breaks it down and it migrates to the soil, where it can contaminate ground water supplies, she said. Silbergeld noted that Europe bans arsenic in chicken feed because of health concerns.
"This is arsenic. We shouldn't lose sight of the sheer outrageousness of this," she said.
Geologists have been closely monitoring arsenic levels in the Eastern Shore's water supply for years without finding serious hazards. Health officials in Queen Anne's, Talbot and Dorchester counties require new wells to be tested for arsenic because of concerns about contamination of the local aquifers, said David Bolton, program director of the hydrogeology section of the Maryland Geological Survey.
About 260,000 tons of litter is produced annually on the four Lower Shore counties, according to the Maryland Department of Agriculture.
A recent U.S. Geological Survey study of the Pocomoke River Basin found slightly elevated levels of arsenic in shallow layers of ground water that could be the result of tainted manure, said Tracy Connell Hancock, a USGS hydrologist.
But she and Bolton said further studies are needed to prove any connection between the manure and arsenic in the water.
"Whether arsenic gets into the ground water from chicken waste is an open question that people are just beginning to investigate," Hancock said.
* Reach John Vandiver at 410-845-4656 or jvandive@salisbury.gannett.com.
www.dailytimesonline.com/news/stories/20040505/localnews/354748.html
By JOHN VANDIVER
Daily Times Staff Writer
------------------------------------------------------------------------
SALISBURY -- People who eat chicken are consuming higher levels of arsenic than previously estimated, which could pressure reform to U.S. food production policy, according to a researcher with the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.
The poultry industry uses arsenic-laced drugs to facilitate growth in chickens, but the practice could pose an increased risk of cancer for consumers, said Ellen Silbergeld in a paper published Monday in the peer-reviewed journal Environmental Health Perspectives.
Silbergeld said she is researching the industry's use of arsenic additives in chicken feed, which raises health and environmental concerns.
Silbergeld's article responded to a paper in the January edition of Environmental Health Perspectives that stated arsenic levels are three to four times higher in poultry than other meats, stemming from certain chicken feed additives.
Tamar Lasky, the lead author of the U.S. Department of Agriculture report published in January, said arsenic levels in chicken are still below the legal limit. But the higher-than-expected level in chicken raises questions about poultry's impact on the total amount of arsenic people consume, she said.
Roxarsone, a federally approved arsenic-based additive, has been used by the poultry industry for decades to control intestinal parasites in chickens.
Silbergeld said the USDA study underestimates the amount of arsenic in chicken, which she said could be up to 10 times higher than Lasky estimates.
Lasky's report estimated the concentrations of arsenic in muscle depend on the only USDA data available -- analyses of liver concentrations, Silbergeld said.
"It would be interesting to know why the USDA does not analyze arsenic in muscle, the tissue most commonly consumed by humans," she wrote in the report.
Questions about arsenic in chicken comes at a time when people are eating more poultry than ever. In 1970, the average person consumed 40.1 pounds of chicken a year, but by 1997 the amount increased to 71.8 pounds, according to the USDA.
Richard Lobb, a spokesman for the National Chicken Council, said Lasky's and Silbergeld's reports are without merit and are "much ado about nothing."
He said tests consistently show arsenic levels in chickens are well below standards set by the Food and Drug Administration.
Silbergeld also said arsenic in chicken feed presents an environmental risk to the Delmarva Peninsula, where more than 500 million birds are grown each year.
When chickens excrete arsenic in manure, sunlight breaks it down and it migrates to the soil, where it can contaminate ground water supplies, she said. Silbergeld noted that Europe bans arsenic in chicken feed because of health concerns.
"This is arsenic. We shouldn't lose sight of the sheer outrageousness of this," she said.
Geologists have been closely monitoring arsenic levels in the Eastern Shore's water supply for years without finding serious hazards. Health officials in Queen Anne's, Talbot and Dorchester counties require new wells to be tested for arsenic because of concerns about contamination of the local aquifers, said David Bolton, program director of the hydrogeology section of the Maryland Geological Survey.
About 260,000 tons of litter is produced annually on the four Lower Shore counties, according to the Maryland Department of Agriculture.
A recent U.S. Geological Survey study of the Pocomoke River Basin found slightly elevated levels of arsenic in shallow layers of ground water that could be the result of tainted manure, said Tracy Connell Hancock, a USGS hydrologist.
But she and Bolton said further studies are needed to prove any connection between the manure and arsenic in the water.
"Whether arsenic gets into the ground water from chicken waste is an open question that people are just beginning to investigate," Hancock said.
* Reach John Vandiver at 410-845-4656 or jvandive@salisbury.gannett.com.
www.dailytimesonline.com/news/stories/20040505/localnews/354748.html
