The Human Impact of Treating Farmed Animals with Hormones and Antibiotics

Information: Farmed Animal Net

Two recent articles underscore the impact of using hormones and antibiotics on farmed animals in the US, including comparisons to Europe where most such additives are banned. Europe has banned the import of hormone-tainted "beef" from the US since 1989 and also forbids the sale of hormone-treated cows' milk based on evidence that such hormones promote early sexual development in children.

Nonetheless, the use of hormones in the US remains allowed and some say it goes unregulated.

According to Dr. Samuel Epstein of the University of Illinois at Chicago, "We're dealing with a bunch of cowboys. There's no inspection. Even if the hormones are administered properly, it's not good."

Epstein says that a young boy who eats two hamburgers in one day could raise his hormone levels by as much as 10%, which may increase the risk of cancer and other diseases. The use of hormones could also be a factor in the 88% rise in prostate cancer in the US since 1975, according to Epstein.

The widespread use of antibiotics on animal farms may also pose a significant human health threat. According to the Organic Consumers Association, 80% of all antibiotics in the US are used on animals "to make them fatten up and enable them to survive unhygienic confinement in factory farms."

The threat is emphasized by a recent University of Minnesota study showing that vegetables were contaminated when sprayed with the waste of animals treated with antibiotics.

The study found that some vegetables (corn, cabbage, onions) absorbed the antibiotic chlortetracycline when sprayed with waste from pigs treated with the drug.

The article appears in the November-December 2005 issue of the Journal of Environmental Quality; see below for a link to the abstract.

Source: Farmed Animal Watch: n.44, v.5 - contact

Link: Antibiotic Uptake by Plants from Soil Fertilized with Animal Manure
Link: Chemical Farm
Link: Researchers Find Animal Antibiotics in Vegetables,