Green Southern Maryland Signs on to Support Arsenic Ban
Posted by chris on September 26, 2010
Chicken factory farms on the Delmarva Peninsula have been using arsenic in their chicken feed as a growth promoter for the last 60 years. Arsenic is a known carcinogen and is more commonly used in rat poison. A nationwide study found detectable traces of arsenic in the chicken we eat everyday: 100 percent in the tested chicken in fast food restaurants and 74 percent of the chicken we buy in grocery stores. Public health problems linked to chronic exposure to this toxin include lung and kidney cancer, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and neurological disorders in children. In addition, these factory farms produce waste equivalent to a city of 4 million people (Maryland’s population is only 6 million) and the waste, along with the arsenic, is running off into the Chesapeake Bay, threatening our water, fisheries, and oysters. It’s time to put an end to this harmful practice—the European Union banned arsenic in chicken feed over 10 years ago. At Food and Water Watch, we are working on a statewide campaign to pass a bill in the spring to permanently ban arsenic from chicken feed, but Maryland state representatives need to see that there is broad public support for this issue. In Southern Maryland, we are asking Senator Roy Dyson and Delegate Anthony O’Donnell to stand up for Maryland’s public health and environment. For more information on how you can help, log onto: www.foodandwaterwatch.org/food/foodsafety/act-now-for-poison-free-poultry-in-md/ or contact Shelley Alingas at shelley@greencorps.org.
Dear Member of the General Assembly,
In the last 50 years, the chicken industry in Maryland has changed dramatically. Today, unlike in the past, hundreds of thousands of chickens are grown in large-scale facilities by a small number of farmers. Unfortunately, a normal practice of this increasingly industrialized poultry system is the use of arsenic as part of a chicken’s diet, which poses a threat to public health and the environment. We urge you to take action to protect Maryland residents by ending the use of arsenic in the poultry production.
Used originally to treat intestinal disease in chickens, arsenic is now also used as a growth promoter and cosmetic additive in chicken feed. Its use creates several routes for potential exposure to arsenic, including human ingestion of arsenic that remains in the chicken’s body when eaten. A recent study found that 55% of chicken in grocery stores and 100% of chicken bought in fast food restaurants had detectable traces of arsenic. Arsenic from chicken litter also ends up in local crop fields and can contaminate ground and surface water. On the Delmarva Peninsula, for instance, 11 million chickens a week are raised by approximately 1,700 chicken operations, producing more waste than a city of 4 million people.
New scientific research reveals that arsenic in poultry feed poses significant risks for both human health and the environment:
- Chronic exposure to arsenic is associated with increased risk for bladder, kidney, lung, liver, and colon cancer, as well as cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and neurological problems in children
- Manure produced on the Delmarva Peninsula far exceeds the local need to fertilize crops, by two or three times as much in some areas, posing serious potential for excess runoff into the Chesapeake Bay
- An analysis of Delmarva tap water found higher levels of arsenic where chicken litter is spread on fields than where it is not. Groundwater tests throughout Maryland’s coastal plains found arsenic concentrations that reached up to 13 times the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) tolerance limit
Maryland residents do not need further arsenic exposure from the chicken they eat or in their local environment. Researchers are developing alternatives to treat intestinal disease in chickens, including probiotics and vaccines. Yet many in the poultry industry vigorously defend the effectiveness and safety of arsenicals and tries to pin any consumer exposure to arsenic on naturally occurring levels in the environment. It should not be left to consumers to reconcile company claims with limited data about arsenic use.
Maryland has the opportunity to be a model for a nation-wide transition towards a healthier and more sustainable model of chicken production. We, the undersigned organizations, urge you to support legislation to end the use of arsenic in the poultry industry and to sign the pledge to support poison-free poultry in Maryland.
Dr. Gerald Winegrad presents “What Needs to Be Done to Restore The Bay? The Inconvenient Truths of Bay Restoration”
