April 20, 2012

Health Care Without Harm Press Release
Contact: Eileen Secrest  540-376-4495

Maryland Bans Arsenic in Chicken Feed, Health Care Instrumental in Passing Legislation

Baltimore, MD — The collective voice of the health care and public health communities helped tip the scales in a long-running legislative battle that culminated on April 7th in Maryland becoming the first state in the country to adopt a ban on arsenic additives in chicken feed.

“The letters, calls and testimonies we received from hospitals, health care and public health professionals and their associations played an important role in helping to pass this bill,”

— Tom Hucker
State Delegate
(D-Montgomery)

This was the third consecutive year that the state legislature considered the arsenic ban in Maryland, which is the nation’s 8th-largest producer of broiler chickens. “The letters, calls and testimonies we received from hospitals, health care and public health professionals and their associations played an important role in helping to pass this bill,” said State Delegate Tom Hucker (D-Montgomery), the primary sponsor and champion of the legislation.

The American Academy of Pediatrics-Maryland Chapter, Baltimore Medical System, Carroll Hospital Center, Health Care Without Harm, Maryland Dietetic Association, Maryland Nurses Association, MedChi-the Maryland State Medical Society, and Union Hospital of Cecil County all publicly supported the arsenic ban. Arsenic additives are fed to chickens and turkeys on large-scale farms in the U.S. to increase the rate of growth, meat pigmentation and feed efficiency, and to prevent and treat an intestinal disorder in the animals. Inorganic arsenic, a known human carcinogen, has been found in increased levels in the soil where poultry litter has been used as fertilizer, and in the chickens themselves that have been fed arsenic additives.

“There are large-scale poultry producers in Maryland and elsewhere that have already stopped using these arsenic additives, so we know that this can be done safely and successfully,” said Jeff Kaplan, MD, chair of MedChi-the Maryland State Medical Society's Public Health Committee. "Preventing avoidable exposures to known carcinogens is always the first choice. It's just common sense, especially when safer and effective alternative practices exist,” said Kaplan.

In October 2011, Alpharma, a subsidiary of drug-company Pfizer, Inc., voluntarily suspended the sale of Roxarsone, the most commonly used arsenic additive, after an FDA study showed higher levels of inorganic arsenic in the livers of chickens fed arsenic additives as compared to the control group.

"While this suspension was an important first step, the FDA has not banned arsenic yet," said Jorge Aguilar, southern region director of Food and Water Watch, the non-profit watch-dog group that coordinated the support for the legislation in Maryland. "It shouldn't be left up to the chicken companies to decide if and when they will use arsenic. That is why Maryland’s bold new move to ban arsenic in chicken production should be applauded. Unfortunately, a few last minute changes to the Maryland arsenic law, pushed by these same companies, opened loopholes to reintroduce arsenic in the future," explained Aguilar.

The Maryland ban coincides with the recent launch of the Healthier Hospitals Initiative, a campaign led by eleven health systems, Health Care Without Harm and other organizations to engage hospitals throughout the country in improving patient and community health through environmentally responsible purchases and practices, including healthier, sustainably-produced foods.

Thanks to the existing work of the Healthy Food in Health Care Program by Health Care Without Harm, more than 375 hospitals around the country and 20 hospitals and nursing homes in Maryland have already signed a pledge to provide healthier, local and sustainably-produced foods at their facilities. In Maryland, 3 hospitals and 1 nursing home are now purchasing chicken produced by local farmers who raise their animals without arsenic additives or antibiotics, and other hospitals have piloted this initiative or expressed an interest. These 4 health care facilities include Carroll Hospital Center, Long View Nursing Home, MedStar Montgomery Medical Center, and Union Hospital of Cecil County. They are among 11 health care facilities now buying local sustainable beef and over 40 health care facilities buying locally grown fresh fruits and vegetables in Maryland, the District of Columbia and Northern Virginia.

“While this new Maryland law is another significant step forward, a nationwide ban on the use of arsenic additives in poultry feed is what's needed to fully protect public health," said Michelle Gottlieb, national co-coordinator of the Healthy Food in Health Care Program. "A nationwide ban would also make poultry produced without these harmful additives readily available to hospital food service, and to all institutions and consumers," said Gottlieb.

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For more information:

Feeding Arsenic to Poultry: Is this Good Medicine?
By Health Care Without Harm, written by David Wallinga, MD, Director, Food and Health Program, Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy.

Poison-Free Poultry in Maryland – Factsheet.
By Food & Water Watch.

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The Healthy Food in Health Care Program is a national initiative of Health Care Without Harm (HCWH), developed in conjunction with its member organizations, which mobilizes advocates to work with hospitals across the country to help improve the sustainability of their food services. For more information about the HCWH Healthy Food in Health Care Program, visit www.healthyfoodinhealthcare.org.

The Healthier Hospitals Initiative is a call-to-action for healthcare organizations across the country to join the shift to a more sustainable business model, and a challenge to address the health and environmental impacts of the health care industry. It is led by eleven leading health systems, Health Care Without Harm, Practice Greenhealth and the Center for Health Design. For more information about the Healthier Hospitals Initiative, visit www.healthierhospitals.org.

Heath Care without Harm, an international coalition of more than 500 organizations in 53 countries, is working to transform the health care sector, without compromising patient safety or care, so that it is ecologically sustainable and no longer a source of harm to public health and the environment. To learn more about HCWH's work, visit our website at www.noharm.org, our YouTube channel at HCwithoutharm, and our twitter feed at hcwithoutharm.