Pfizer Pulls One Arsenic-Based Poultry Drug, Keeps Another on the Market

In a big win for environmentalists and sustainable foodies, Pfizer recently suspended sales of roxarsone, an arsenic-based feed additive traditionally used to control intestinal parasites in chickens. The move came after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) released data showing that roxarsone increases inorganic arsenic levels in chicken livers. In other words, consumers who chow down on conventionally produced chicken oftentimes ingest small amounts of arsenic.

Roxarsone has been used for decades to control parasites and promote growth in poultry. Factory farm operations also favor the drug  because it “improves” the color of the meat, making chicken cuts look pinker. But according to Food Safety News, the organic arsenic present in roxarsone may be transforming into the more toxic inorganic form of arsenic (found in the livers of chickens treated with the drug).

It's great that Pfizer voluntarily pulled roxarsone from the market after the FDA's findings came out. What Pfizer doesn't want you to know, though, is that while the company is suspending roxarsone due to its arsenic issues, execs are continuing to market another arsenic-based poultry drug, nitarsone. Will consumers have to wait for an FDA study of nitarsone with similar negative results to get Pfizer to drop it?

Obviously, you don't want a side of arsenic with your chicken. Let's be clear — arsenic is a carcinogen. It has also been linked to cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and neurological problems in children.

But aside from the effects of unknowingly eating arsenic in mass-produced chicken, there's another huge issue to consider here. Proponents of arsenic-based drugs insist that they aren't dangerous for consumers because most of the arsenic gets eliminated through chicken urine and feces. But where does that massive amount of waste go?  (And I do mean massive — millions of tons of waste are produced annually from poultry farms.) All that waste laced with arsenic is often sprayed over agricultural fields as fertilizer, and the arsenic can seep into the water supply and flow into bodies of water through agricultural run-off. Arsenic in the water poses risks for human health and the environment. Plus, the arsenic excreted through chicken waste is inorganic, which is more dangerous than its organic counterpart.

Feeding chickens arsenic-based additives is completely unnecessary — safer, more environmentally alternatives exist, ones that don't endanger human health. Furthermore, poultry waste containing inorganic arsenic doesn't simply go away — it ends up in our environment. If Pfizer voluntarily suspended roxarsone, then the company is clearly listening to the fuss people are making. Tell Pfizer to get its remaining arsenic-based poultry drug off the market. Nitarsone should be discontinued now.

Photo credit: serenejournal via Flickr