Arsenic in Chicken Feed Poisons Groundwater, Study Shows

A new study from the University of Maryland Center for Agro-Ecology has found that the usage of arsenic in chicken feed has contaminated local waterways in areas where the birds’ manure is used as fertilizer. The report was commissioned by the Maryland House of Delegates to be examined in the possible implementation of a statewide ban on use of the toxic chemical in chicken feed, a practice that the industry performs in order to encourage speedy growth and keep the birds’ meat pink-toned. Roxarsone, formerly the most popular arsenical drug in the US, was recalled last year after the Food and Drug Administration found that it was causing chickens to collapse under their own weight after exponential weight gain and was potentially detrimental to public health.