Pass the Arsenic, Please

A new article in Chemical & Engineering news, reports on Roxarsone, an arsenic-based additive used in chicken feed. The most common arsenic-based additive used in chicken feed, scientists are worried its use could pose health risks to humans. (Why is it used at all? It's used to promote growth, kill parasites and improve the color of chicken meat). Though it's normally benign, concern has been growing that under certain conditions it can convert into more toxic forms of inorganic arsenic. Because of these concerns, a number of food suppliers have stopped using roxarsone, but still estimates approximate that 70 percent of the 9 billion broiler chickens produced annually in the United States are fed roxarsone. Yum. Read the article here: Chemical & Engineering News, Vol. 85, No. 15, April 9, 2007: 34-35 (Free Full-Text Article) Science Daily April 10, 2007