“Antibiotics in Your Salad” - A Summary
Brought to you by: A. Arroyo, J. Carayol, K. Happich, and T. Telfort
Our poster project was based off of one of our group member’s papers. Alyssa’s research focused on how antibiotics used in meat production eventually, through a simple chain, could come to be found in produce and water systems. The poster, entitled “ Antibiotics in Your Salad? ”, aimed to inform the reader of the possibility that the antibiotics used for livestock growth enhancement and for increased reproduction rates on farms, may very well be in the produce they consume. The poster visually explained the path that the antibiotics take to go from livestock farms to the salad bowls of unsuspecting consumers.
A multicolored flow chart divided the journey into four significant steps. The first section of the flow chart explained how antibiotics are used on farms, and emphasized the fact that the animals only retain about 5% of the antibiotics. The other 95% are excreted and this brings the reader to the second part of the flow chart. In the second section it is explained that livestock farms often sell the manure to agricultural farms, as a way to recycle the waste. This means that the manure, which at this point in the process is referred to as biosolid, contains the antibiotics excreted by cattle. The third section of the chart discussed how this antibiotic-filled manure, used as fertilizer, can affect crops. The poster explained that studies have shown that the crops actually absorb small doses of antibiotics from the soil and store them in their tubers and leaves. The last section of the flow chart focuses on where the antibiotics eventually end up. This section of the chart was divided into two subsections, because there are two possible outcomes. The first outcome is that the antibiotics are consumed unknowingly via produce consumption. The second outcome is that the antibiotics end up in water systems as run off from the agricultural farms.
The results and discussion sections of the poster considered the effects that that the antibiotics present in produce have on the consumers. As shown by the study, the antibiotics were transferred to people who consumed the affected produce, resulting in the decreased effectiveness of antibiotic treatment of human illnesses. The bactericidal drugs Baytril and Cipro were banned from livestock feed by the FDA. This occurred because the aforementioned drugs lost effectiveness when prescribed to humans because of their consumption of antibiotic-treated livestock. Antibiotic use in animals can affect the potency of antibiotic therapy in humans. If people are over-exposed to antibiotics, it aids the bacteria in mutating and becoming more resistant to the drugs that have been developed to combat them, therefore resulting in a new and stronger strain of that particular bacteria. Further research has shown that humans are not the only ones affected by the unconscious consumption of antibiotics. The antibiotics present can affect species that live in polluted waters such as the smallmouth bass, some of which developed to be intersexed as a result.
In order to prevent produce consumers unnecessary exposure to antibiotics, a system that eliminates unwanted chemicals and antibiotics from the biosolid before produce is grown is needed. The support and compliance of the larger livestock farms is necessary to move from antibiotic use in animals so that the health and lives of consumers will not be negatively affected.
