Fact Sheet on Hazards of Hormone Implants or Injections in Beef

This is Your Beef on Drugs:
The Health and Environmental Risks of Hormones in Meat
Fact Sheet from Friends of the Earth <www.foe.org>

Hormones in our food supply?

Since the early 1970s, hormones have been used extensively in the production
of beef and milk in the United States, with hormone development research
starting as far back as the 1950s[i] <#1> . As many as two-thirds of
cattle raised in the U.S are treated with these hormones[ii] <#2> .

Although growing numbers of consumers and scientists have expressed concerns
about potential human health risks of this practice, the USDA and FDA have
approved the use of six hormone growth promotants (HGPs) in the cultivation
of beef cattle, and one more hormone used to increase milk productivity[iii]
<#3> [iv] <#4> . Only a few other countries have approved the use
of HGPs, while many others have banned their use.

The hormones are implanted or injected into cattle in various stages of
maturity, but are not allowed in calves[v] <#5> . Hormones used in beef
cattle include the male hormone testosterone and its synthetic equivalent
trenbolone acetate, and the female hormone progesterone including three
synthetic derivatives zeranol , 17 beta-estradiol, and melengestrol acetate
(MGA). All HGPs are either implanted or injected into the cows except
melengestrol which is a feed additive.

Illegal Hormone Use in the Veal Industry
The veal industry has recently been found guilty of using banned hormones in
growing up to 90% of its veal calves and this has reportedly been common
practice for decades[vi] <#6> . These hormones include all six HGPs
approved for use in adult cattle, namely testosterone, progesterone,
trenbolone acetate, 17 beta-estradiol, zeranol, and MGA but they have never
been approved for calves. The safety or side effects of injecting calves
with hormones intended for heifers and steers over 700 lbs has never been
evaluated, but it is suspected that these hormones may be metabolized
differently in the young calf's body which could lead to greater amounts of
hormones consumed by people who eat veal.

Hormones and Cancer

The European Union (EU) has banned the importation of American and Canadian
beef grown with the use any growth hormone, including 17 beta-estradiol
because studies have shown that it is a "complete carcinogen." [vii] <#7>
This synthetic form of progesterone shares similar characteristics with a
class of other molecules called endocrine disruptors that imitate other
human hormones in the body and have been linked to diseases such as cancer.
Zeranol, another progesterone-imitator, has also been linked to cancer in a
recent study done at Ohio State University. Scientists exposed breast
cancer cells to zeranol-treated beef. The results indicated significant
increases in cancer growth ­ some showed an increase even with zeranol
levels 30 times below the level the FDA considers safe[viii] <#8> . It
should also be noted that the FDA does not permit any residual MGA to show
up in beef residue testing[ix] <#9> . It is considered a suspected
carcinogen by the USDA[x] <#10> .

Hormones in the Environment

With tons of hormones injected into beef and veal cattle, many of these
hormones end up in farm run-off in the form of solid and liquid waste.
Sanitary waste treatment is seldom found on factory farms, and many farms
simply have waste settling ponds that are easily flooded. Hormones can then
flow into nearby rivers and streams, as well as underground aquifers,
eventually ending up in drinking water. Endocrine-disruptor expert Ana Soto
concluded that hormone levels in water run-off found in one downstream study
"would be sufficient to produce a significant effect on target cells" and
her study¹s findings "point to the need to take steps to curtail
environmental degradation caused by the release of these chemicals into
bodies of water[xi] <#_edn11> ." A study done by a EPA fresh-water research
facility in Duluth, MN found that female fish exposed to trenbolone in water
developed bumps on their heads normally only witnessed in male fish when
their natural testosterone levels were elevated. There was a general
pattern where female fish were slightly masculinized and male fish slightly
feminized by trenbolone exposure[xii] <#12> .

The reproductive impacts observed in fish raise concerns that hormones used
in beef and consumed by people might be a factor in rising incidence of
premature development in girls[xiii] <#13> and lower sperm counts in
men[xiv] <#14> .

Conclusion

Given the potential of growth hormones to act as carcinogens and as
reproductive toxins, combined with the demonstrated downstream effects of
hormone run-off from feed lots, Friends of the Earth recommends that people
seek organic or hormone-free beef, or beef alternatives. These are the
surest ways of avoiding consuming unwanted additives in your beef.
Locations of providers of free-range, organic meats may be found at the
website, www.eatwellguide.org <http://www.eatwellguide.org/> , or at many
local natural food stores or cooperatives.

[i] <#1> "A Primer on Beef Hormones." USDA-FAS.
http://www.fas.usda.gov/itp/policy/hormone2.html

[ii] <#2> Raloff, Janet. "Hormones: Here's the Beef." Science News
Online. January 5, 2002.
http://www.sciencenews.org/articles/20020105/bob13.asp

[iii] <#3> "Part I: Baseline Reference of Feed lot Management
Practices, 1999", USDA-APHIS
http://www.aphis.usda.gov/vs/ceah/cnahs/nahms/feedlot/Feedlot99/FD99Pt1.pdf

[iv] <#4> "rbST Info Sheet", USDA-APHIS.
http://www.aphis.usda.gov/vs/ceah/cnahs/nahms/dairy/Dairy02/Dairy02BST.pdf

[v] <#5> "Veal Producers Told to Halt Hormones." The Associated
Press, April 2, 2004.

[vi] <#6> Weise, Elizabeth. "Growth hormones in veal spark debate."
USAToday, April 1 2004.

[vii] <#7> "Opinion of the Scientific Committee on Veterinary
Measures Relating to Public Health, Review of previous
SCVPH opinions of 30 April 1999 and 3 May 2000 on the potential risks to
human health from hormone residues from bovine meat and meat products,"
European Commission, Health and Consumer Directorate, April 10, 2002.

[viii] <#8> "Link Eyed Between Beef And Cancer." CBS News, May 20,
2003.
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2003/05/20/eveningnews/main554857.shtml

[ix] <#9> "Tolerance for Residue of Melengestrol Acetate." Code of
Federal Regulations. 21CFR556.380
http://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/cdrh/cfdocs/cfcfr/CFRSearch.cfm?fr=556
.380

[x] <#10> USDA Food Safety Inspection Service testing document for
MGA. Accessed August 2004. http://www.fsis.usda.gov/OPHS/clg/clg-mga.02.pdf

[xi] <#11> Soto, Ana M., et al. "Androgenic and
Estrogenic Activity in Water Bodies Receiving Cattle Feedlot
Effluent in Eastern Nebraska, USA" Environmental Health Perspectives, Vol
112. No 3. March 2004 http://ehp.niehs.nih.gov/members/2003/6590/6590.pdf

[xii] <#12> Raloff, Janet. "Hormones: Here's the Beef." Science
News Online. January 5, 2002.
http://www.sciencenews.org/articles/20020105/bob13.asp

[xiii] <#13> Lemonick, Michael D. "Teens before Their Time," TIME
Magazine, October 30, 2000.

[xiv] <#14> Cone, Marla. "Changes in Fish Tied to Feedlots." Los
Angeles Times. December 11, 2003