Arsenic-based Animal Drugs and Poultry
Arsenic is a substance occurring naturally and is commonly found in its organic form throughout the environment, specifically in water, soil, air, and food.
New scientific research demonstrates that organic arsenic, typically a less harmful or toxic form of arsenic, and the same type of arsenic contained in 3-Nitro® (roxarsone) - a drug approved for use in animals - could change into the more toxic form of inorganic arsenic.
As a result of these recent findings, top scientists from the FDA’s Center for Veterinary Medicine and the Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition have created a way to detect extremely low levels of inorganic arsenic found in tissue intended for consumption.
For example, utilizing the FDA’s new detection method, scientists were able to identify increased levels of inorganic arsenic in chickens treated with 3-Nitro®, especially when compared to levels found in untreated chickens used as the control group.
What Do These Findings Mean?
These findings are both encouraging and troubling. The findings are encouraging, as you will read below, as we are now able to detect previously undetectable levels of inorganic arsenic in the foods we eat, specifically meats and poultry. These new detection methods are forcing large-scale animal production facilities and animal pharmaceutical providers to provide safer products free of both inorganic arsenic and drugs containing organic arsenic with the potential to convert into inorganic arsenic.
These findings are troubling as we now can confirm that unless you have been eating exclusively organic meats and poultries, you have probably consumed beef or chicken with larger amounts of harmful inorganic arsenic levels than first reported or known.
Adding to the concern surrounding these new findings is the fact that arsenic, and specifically inorganic arsenic, has been linked to increased risk of several types of cancer. In fact, World Health Agency’s International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) considers arsenic and the inorganic compounds of arsenic as “human carcinogens”, and reports that it causes bladder, skin, and lung cancer in humans.
I’ve Been Eating Chicken My Whole Life, What Do I Do Now?
Reading this information, you probably asking, “Should I get my arsenic levels tested?” and “How do I remove arsenic from my body?”
If you have been a regular consumer of chicken, it is pretty safe to assume that over time, you have accumulated increased levels of arsenic and possibly other heavy metals and toxins in your body.
Medical professionals can accurately assess levels of heavy metals in the body, including arsenic, using a urine toxic metal test (with a pre and post-test).
What Are The Symptoms of Increased Arsenic Levels
You do not need to be exposed to large doses of arsenic to experience adverse health effects; especially if you are genetically predisposed to accumulating heavy metals in your system.
Slowly accumulating arsenic levels can cause cancer while not ever demonstrating any of the acute symptoms typically associated with severe exposure to the metal, including:
- Fatigue
- Headaches
- Stomach issues (Including severe diarrhea)
- Mental confusion
Treating Increased Arsenic Levels
High levels of arsenic are often treated with chelation therapy, but moderate to low levels can be treated with an oral agent that removes heavy metals from your system.
Since exposure to harmful heavy metals, including arsenic, is on the rise, a periodic detox to remove heavy metals from your system is highly recommended. This form of detox does not require invasive, costly medical procedures and can be achieved by using a natural oral agent before bed to slowly draw arsenic, mercury, lead, and other heavy metals from your system while you sleep.