{"id":1218,"date":"2012-11-15T12:53:29","date_gmt":"2012-11-15T17:53:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alexprudhomme.com\/?p=1218"},"modified":"2012-11-15T12:53:29","modified_gmt":"2012-11-15T17:53:29","slug":"rice-farmers-vs-poultry-industry-over-arsenic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alexprudhomme.com\/2012\/11\/15\/rice-farmers-vs-poultry-industry-over-arsenic\/","title":{"rendered":"Rice Farmers vs. Poultry Industry over Arsenic"},"content":{"rendered":"
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I write about this issue in The Ripple Effect. It is a growing concern, and one that regulators should take a close look at:<\/p>\n

Rice Farmers Suing Drug Company and Poultry Industry for Contaminating Their Crop with Arsenic<\/h1>\n
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October 25 2012\u00a0|\u00a0144856\u00a0views\u00a0|\u00a0+ Add to Favorites<\/a><\/h5>\n
\u00a0By Dr. Mercola<\/strong><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Three Arkansas farming operations have filed a class-action lawsuit against Pfizer, Tyson Foods, and three Arkansas poultry producers over arsenic detected in their rice.<\/a>1<\/sup>
\nThe lawsuit claims the defendants “knew that excessive arsenic in chicken litter used as fertilizer on many rice farms in Arkansas would contaminate the entire U.S. rice crop and infiltrate the general U.S. rice supply, and that public news about such arsenic contamination would result in devastating financial losses to U.S. and Arkansas rice producers.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Is Contaminated Chicken Litter the Culprit?<\/h2>\n

The suit comes on the heels of a\u00a0Consumer Report<\/em>\u00a0issued last month, which reported it had found “worrisome” levels of inorganic arsenic in various rice products sold across the U.S. According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), there is no real ‘safe’ level of exposure to inorganic arsenic, which is a well-known cancer-causing toxin.\u00a0Consumer Reports<\/em>\u00a0found that white rice grown in Arkansas, Louisiana, Missouri, and Texas all had higher levels of arsenic than rice samples from other locations, including India, Thailand and California.
\nAs reported by\u00a0Arkansas Business<\/em>:<\/a>2<\/sup><\/p>\n

“…the three Arkansas farming enterprises allege that Pfizer manufactures additives containing arsenic that are then sold to the poultry industry for use in chicken feed. The additives are used to foster the growth of broiler chickens and prevent an intestinal disease in chickens called coccidiosis… The suit says that chicken litter, which contains chicken waste, is used by rice farmers as fertilizer. This litter winds up contaminating the soil and, ultimately, the rice crop.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

…The suit seeks class-action status to represent all rice farmers in Arkansas. It seeks both compensatory and punitive damages to be determined at trial.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Gary Mickelson, a Tyson spokesman, said, ‘We’re still reviewing the lawsuit, but will say it appears to be an example of creative lawyers trying to use frivolous litigation to extract money from companies that have done nothing wrong. We will vigorously defend ourselves. None of our chickens are given feed additives containing arsenic.'”<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Majority of CAFO Chickens Still Get Arsenic-Laced Chicken Feed<\/h2>\n

It was only last summer that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced a “voluntary suspension” of Pfizer’s arsenic-laced drug\u00a0Roxarsone<\/a>, which has been widely used on chicken CAFOs (Confined Animal Feeding Operations) to control an intestinal parasite that allows the chickens to feed more productively and grow faster. It also makes the chicken meat appear pinker (i.e. “fresher”).
\nRoxarsone has been used in chicken feed since the 1940s. More than 70 years later, the FDA conducted an analysis that found chickens treated with the drug do in fact have\u00a0arsenic<\/a>\u00a0in their livers \u2013 and as a result, manufacturer Pfizer agreed to stop selling the drug (brand name 3-Nitro) in July of last year.
\nOne of the many reasons I’ve long recommended avoiding conventionally raised chicken is because of the potential for it to contain arsenic. Some of the larger chicken producers, including Tyson and Perdue, claim they phased the drug out several years ago. Tyson reportedly quit using arsenic compounds in 2004,<\/a>3<\/sup>\u00a0however, the plaintiffs in this case claim that:<\/a>4<\/sup><\/p>\n

“…Each Poultry Industry Defendant manufactures its own feed formula to be used by its respective growers\/hatchers. Each Poultry Industry Defendant includes (or, as recently as 2011, included) ‘3-Nitro’ Roxarsone to some degree in their formula and, as such, manufactures and designs the feed formula each deems optimal.”<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Tyson is one of the Poultry Industry Defendants in this case. Hopefully this trial will unearth the truth about whether or not they’ve actually quit using 3-Nitro… As of 2007, the majority \u2013 70 percent \u2013 of the 9 billion broiler chickens produced annually in the United States were still being fed Roxarsone.<\/a>5<\/sup><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Roxarsone \u2013 Another Toxic Debacle Demonstrating the Necessity of Holistic Safety Studies<\/h2>\n

Roxarsone, manufactured by Pfizer, was the first arsenic-based product approved for use in animal feed. Its alleged safety was based on the fact that it contains\u00a0organic<\/em>\u00a0arsenic, which is less toxic than the other\u00a0inorganic<\/em>\u00a0form, which is a known carcinogen. However, after decades of use, scientific reports began surfacing stating that the organic arsenic in Roxarsone could transform into inorganic arsenic.
\nAccording to a 2007 report in\u00a0Chemical and Engineering News<\/em>:<\/p>\n

“…a team led by James A. Field of the department of chemical and environmental engineering at the University of Arizona reported that under anaerobic conditions, roxarsone is converted to inorganic arsenic within eight months after poultry litter is spread on fields.<\/a>6<\/sup>\u00a0‘Roxarsone is not very toxic,’<\/strong>\u00a0Field says,\u00a0‘but in anaerobic environments, it is transformed into highly toxic forms.’<\/strong><\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

…Chicken manure introduces huge quantities of arsenic to agricultural fields. According to Donald L. Sparks, professor of marine studies at the University of Delaware, poultry litter is spread on land at the rate of 9 to 20 metric tons per hectare.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

One reason for the increasing concern about Roxarsone is that the weight of evidence for arsenic as a carcinogen is much greater now than it was a decade ago. In 2001, EPA proposed reducing the maximum contaminant levels for arsenic in drinking water from 50 ppb to 10 ppb and required water systems to comply by January 2006. The agency took this action in response to three National Research Council reports that concluded the standard of 50 ppb posed unreasonable risks. And even the new lower maximum appears problematic. According to EPA estimates, the risk of cancer from 10 ppb of arsenic in tap water is 1 in 2,000, a 50-fold higher risk than that allowed for most other carcinogens.”<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Besides cancer, other health risks associated with chronic arsenic exposure include, according to the EPA:<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Kidney damage and failure<\/td>\nAnemia<\/td>\nLow blood pressure<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Shock<\/td>\nHeadaches<\/td>\nWeakness<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Delirium<\/td>\nIncreased risk of diabetes<\/td>\nAdverse liver and respiratory effects, including irritation of mucous membranes<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
During development, increased incidence of preterm delivery, miscarriage, stillbirths, low birth weight, and infant mortality<\/td>\nDuring childhood, decreased performance in tests of intelligence and long-term memory<\/td>\nSkin lesions<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/blockquote>\n

The Many Problems Associated with CAFO-Style Farming<\/h2>\n

In related news, on October 10, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced that Tyson Foods in Arkansas had issued a nationwide recall of misbranded chicken containing undeclared allergens:<\/a>7<\/sup><\/p>\n

“Tyson Foods, Inc., a Pine Bluff, Ark. establishment, is recalling approximately 67,269 pounds of packages labeled as Honey BBQ Flavored Boneless Chicken Wyngz because of misbranding and undeclared allergens. Buffalo Style Boneless Chicken Wyngz were packaged in bags meant for Honey BBQ Flavored Boneless Chicken Wyngz and contain the allergens milk, soy and egg, which are not declared on the Honey BBQ Flavored Boneless Chicken Wyngz label.”<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

What these stories have in common is the problematic nature of confined animal feeding operations (CAFOs) and the mass-production of processed food. Here, Tyson’s recall was due to mixing up the packaging, exposing those with known food allergies to potential health risks, but at least it was not a contamination issue. Still, mass produced foods are FAR more prone to disease-causing contamination than smaller scale traditional farming and food production. The trend of large corporate-controlled CAFOs making up the lion’s share of U.S. food production has lead to an abundance of cheap food, but not without consequence. This includes:<\/p>\n