Tuesday, October 8, 2013

Beef growth promotant shows up in rivers


Researchers at the University of Iowa have found that a popular beef-industry growth promotant, trenbelone acetate, does not break down in water as regulators have believed.

About 20 million U.S. cattle per year have trenbelone acetate pellets placed in their ears.

The findings raise questions about a broader range of pharmaceuticals that are either flushed down toilets or are in livestock and poultry manure which erodes into waterways.

"We're finding a chemical that is broadly utilized, to behave in a way that is different from all our existing regulatory and risk-assessment paradigms," says David Cwiertny, assistant professor in engineering at the University of Iowa and a co-corresponding author on the paper published on an on-line scientific journal.

"What our work hopefully will do is help us better understand and assess the environmental fate of emerging contaminant classes.

“There are a variety of bioactive pharmaceuticals and personal-care products that we know are present in trace amounts in our water supply.

“We should use what we're learning about trenbolone to more closely scrutinize the fate and better mitigate the impact of these products in the environment," he said.