The hormones, my friends, are blowing in the wind

[n2doc]

By Janet Raloff Web edition : Wednesday, November 25th, 2009 Text Size
http://www.sciencenews.org/view/download/id/50078/name/Bulking_Up
Bulking UpMuscle-building steroids are legal for beef cattle, but can — once excreted — pollute the environment with hormones.EPA


NEW ORLEANS On any given day, some 750,000 U.S feedlots are beefing up between 11 million and 14 million head of cattle. The vast majority of these animals will receive muscle-building steroids — hormones they will eventually excrete into the environment. But traditional notions about where those biologically active pollutants end up may need substantial revising, several new studies find.

They were reported at the annual meeting of the Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry, which ended Monday.

A typical feedlot cow will shed 50 pounds of urine and feces per day. These wastes may be collected in lagoons or composted for later use in fertilizing fields.

Throughout the past decade, scientists have become concerned about environmental risks that these wastes might pose if they wash, untreated, into waterways. Evidence has certainly linked waters receiving runoff from feedlots with sex alterations in fish — females that exhibit some masculinization and males that look somewhat feminized.

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[Mari333]

1. great article, and so sickening.

I dont touch meat. wont go near it.
and yet I know its in the waters and other things I probably consume, this crap.
I wonder sometimes if all those hormones are contributing to the huge obesity problem by upsetting our own body functions.
who knows.
knr

[safeinOhio]

2. along with eating soy products and using plastic.

[demodonkey]

3. Simple Solution -- Buy naturally-raised meat, vegetables, and fruit from your local small farmer.

This simple act supports local economy and families while telling Big Ag where to stick it.

Even many big cities have farmer's markets for home-grown vegetables, fruits, and other products.

If you eat meat, a cost-effective and healthy thing to do is to purchase a half or quarter of a grass-fed beef and freeze it. You will get a much better and healthier product for both yourself and our environment. For example the manure from these naturally-raised cattle is good, healthy fertilizer for farm fields.

My family raised beef naturally and sustainably for decades, until a developer moved in and flooded our family farm.

[trotsky]

4. Not to mention how much more flavorful and tender those grass-fed cuts are.

We buy 1/8-cow packages from a local farmer who raises his cows 100% grass-fed, no antibiotics, no hormones. Best beef I have ever had - and it spoiled me. I can no longer order steaks at a restaurant, since even the best cut of grain-fed beef is inferior to the T-bone of a grass-fed cow.

We eat bison from a ranch in Wisconsin too, now that's some delicious stuff and also totally grass-fed.

There are so many health benefits, too. From the far greater concentration of Omega-3 fatty acids (as opposed to Omega-6 in grain-fed) as well as the lower acidity in the stomach of a grass-fed animal, resulting in less occurrence of the more deadly strains of E. coli.

Sorry to hear about the demise of your farm though.

[HuckleB]

5. Indeed. And we're lucky enough to be able to afford to do so.

More needs to be done, IMO. My consumer choices are fine and dandy, but most people can't make the choices I can make.

[HuckleB]

6. K & R.