1st Study Of Estimated Local Use Of Antibiotics As Livestock Feed

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http://www.environmentaldefense.org/pressrelease.cfm?ContentID=4475

 

1st Study Of Estimated Local Use Of Antibiotics As Livestock Feed

Additives Shows 90% Of Estimated Use Concentrated In 23 States

 

Finding Significant Since Studies Suggest People Living Near Intensive

Antibiotic Feed Additive Use At Greater Risk Of Contracting

Antibiotic-Resistant Infections

 

Washington, DC - Almost all (90%) of the 26.5 million pounds of

antibiotics estimated to be used in the United States as feed

additives each year - seven times the amount used in human medicine

nationwide - occurs in 23 states, according to a report released today

by Environmental Defense. The report, Resistant Bugs and Antibiotic

Drugs: Local Estimates of Antibiotics in Agricultural Feed and Animal

Waste, is the first study to provide state and county level estimates

of the quantities of antibiotics used as feed additives for chicken,

hogs and beef cattle, along with estimates for antibiotics in animal

waste. The report is available at

www.environmentaldefense.org/go/antibiotic.estimates.

 

" Studies suggest that people living in areas with intensive use of

antibiotics as feed additives are at greater risk of contracting

antibiotic-resistant infections, " said Ellen Silbergeld, Ph.D.,

Professor of Environmental Health Services at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg

School of Public Health.

 

North Carolina and Iowa are each estimated to use three million pounds

of antibiotics as feed additives annually, the same quantity of

antibiotics estimated to be used each year in human medicine

nationwide. At least one million pounds of antibiotics are estimated

to be used as feed additives annually in seven other states: Georgia,

Arkansas, Texas, Alabama, Minnesota, Mississippi and Missouri. On a

per square mile-adjusted basis, Delaware is estimated to be by far the

most intensive user of all antibiotic feed additives, using three

times as many antibiotics per thousand square miles (187,000 pounds)

as the next closest state, North Carolina (64,000 pounds). Two other

smaller states join the ranks of the top 10 states on a per square

mile basis, Maryland (4th) and Indiana (9th).

 

The Environmental Defense report estimates were prepared using new

data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) on numbers of

animals per county, and multiplying those figures by estimates

previously developed by the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) on the

quantity of feed-additive antibiotics consumed per animal. UCS

presented national estimates, but not state or county estimates.

 

" The public has a right to know where antibiotics are being used for

nonessential purposes, notably as antibiotic feed additives, " said

Environmental Defense senior attorney Karen Florini, co-author of the

report. " Unfortunately, no governmental data are available on

quantities of antibiotics used in livestock feed either locally or

nationally. "

 

Overuse of antibiotics in agriculture is widely regarded as

contributing to the spread of antibiotic-resistant bacteria that

threaten human health. Antibiotics are added to feed not to treat

sick animals, but rather on the grounds that they may promote slightly

faster growth or prevent disease that could result from the crowded,

stressful conditions.

 

" Feeding antibiotics to animals is not only a major cause of

antibiotic-resistant bacteria in the human food supply, but also

results in the presence of antibiotic-resistant bacteria in animals

and in their waste, " said Environmental Defense senior scientist

Rebecca Goldburg, Ph.D., co-author of the report. " Those bacteria can

in turn colonize and infect farm workers, as well as contaminate

water, air, and soil. "

 

" With antibiotics, the more you use them, the faster you lose them, "

concluded Goldburg. " That's because bacteria become resistant in

response to being exposed to antibiotics. Antibiotic resistance is a

serious and growing threat to human health, so it's just plain foolish

to be feeding vast quantities of antibiotics to chickens, pigs, and

beef cattle. "

 

The report urges swift enactment of bipartisan federal legislation to

phase out use of medically important antibiotics as feed additives,

The Preservation of Antibiotics for Medical Treatment Act (S. 742/H.R.

2562), sponsored by U.S. Senator Olympia Snowe (R-ME) and U.S. Rep.

Sherrod Brown (D-OH). The bipartisan Senate version of this bill

authorizes funds to farmers to help defray costs of phasing out

non-therapeutic use of medically important antibiotics, and provides

for research and demonstration projects to assist farmers in this

transition. More than 380 organizations, including the American

Medical Association, American Academy of Pediatrics, and American

Public Health Association, endorsed nearly identical legislation last

year. In April, Environmental Defense, American Academy of

Pediatrics, American Public Health Association, Food Animal Concerns

Trust and Union of Concerned Scientists filed a formal Citizen

Petition with the Food and Drug Administration urging the agency to

ban seven classes of medically important antibiotics from use as feed

additives, and documenting that those uses violate FDA's specific

safety standards for antibiotic use.

 

Environmental Defense, a leading national nonprofit organization,

represents more than 400,000 members. Since 1967, Environmental

Defense has linked science, economics, law and innovative

private-sector partnerships to create breakthrough solutions to the

most serious environmental problems.

 

www.environmentaldefense.org