Maryland’s ban on the use and sale of poultry feed containing roxarsone or any other additive that contains arsenic went into effect this week.
Last year, Maryland became the first state to pass a bill banning use of the additive.
Poultry producers have used roxarsone, or 3-Nitro as sold by Pfizer subsidiary Alpharma, to protect the health of their flocks since the 1940s. But in June 2011, the company decided to discontinue sales following an FDA study of 100 broilers detected inorganic arsenic, a known carcinogen, at higher levels in chickens treated with 3-Nitro compared with untreated chickens. Read More