U.S. poultry farmers have used drugs containing arsenic, a known poison, to control the common disease coccidiosis for decades. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the arsenic-based drug roxarsone as a feed additive in 1944. The chicken industry discovered that roxarsone promoted growth, increased feed efficiency (pounds of chicken produced from each pound of feed), and improved flesh pigmentation as well. Between 1995 and 2000, 70 percent of broiler chicken producers used roxarsone feed additives.
While the chicken industry maintains that arsenical drugs are safe, arsenic poses problems to human health from exposure to chicken meat and waste. A study of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA)’s limited data found arsenic levels in young chickens to be approximately three times higher than average levels in other meats. Most arsenical drugs fed to chickens are excreted in waste, which can rapidly decompose into more toxic forms. Typically used as fertilizer, the waste can contaminate soil, water and crops.