Legislature passes ban on arsenic in chicken feed
Sunday - 4/8/2012, 8:23am ET
Associated Press
ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) - Maryland is on its way to becoming the first state to ban an arsenic additive in chicken feed.
The House of Delegates on Saturday accepted state Senate amendments to a bill that bans roxarsone, a chemical used to help the birds grow and fight parasites.
Pfizer Inc., the company that produces roxarsone, stopped selling the chemical in July after a U.S. Food and Drug Administration study found higher levels of inorganic arsenic in chicken treated with roxarsone than in those that were not fed the chemical. Arsenic is a known carcinogen.
The bill was amended by the Senate to continue the use of a similar chemical used to treat turkeys.
Opponents of the bill have said it will cost Maryland jobs.
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Online:
Read House Bill 167 http://mlis.state.md.us/2012rs/billfile/hb0167.htm
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