DELAWARE uses more antibiotic animal feed additives per square mile than any other state, and Maryland is not far behind, according to a report issued last week by a national environmental group.
The report by Environmental Defense claims that residents living near large chicken farms in the Delmarva region are at greater risk of exposure to antibiotic-resistant bacteria.
Delaware, which has a large concentration of poultry farms in the southern region of the state, uses about 187,000 pounds of antibiotic additives per thousand square miles, according to the group, which identifies itself as a leading national nonprofit organization that seeks solutions to environmental problems.
It lists Maryland as fourth in the nation, using 44,467 pounds per thousand square miles.
The group claims that 23 states use 90 percent of the 26.5 million pounds of antibiotics estimated to be used in the United States as feed additives each year, seven times the amount used in human medicine nationwide.
`Greater risk'
"Studies suggest that people living in areas with intensive use of antibiotics as feed additives are at greater risk of contracting antibiotics-resistant infections," said Ellen Silbergeld, a professor at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.
Maryland Agriculture Secretary Lewis R. Riley said the report appeared to be "based on opinion rather than scientific fact."
"As a poultry farmer myself, my family and I have lived and worked on a poultry farm for 46 years," he said. "I see no real credence in the printed report."
Maryland ranks seventh in the nation for poultry production, according to the state Department of Agriculture. Poultry is the state's largest farm business, accounting for about 30 percent of approximately $1.5 billion in farm sales. The industry employs 15,000 people in the Delmarva Peninsula.
Riley said that Maryland's poultry industry relies on the production of a healthy and safe food product. "This is accomplished by the use and application of safe feed ingredients designed to produce a healthy poultry and animal product, which in turn provides a healthy and wholesome product for the consumer."
Riley said agriculture's success depends on food and environmental safety and consumers demand no less.
Farms in North Carolina and Iowa are each estimated to use 3 million pounds of antibiotics as food additives each year, according to the report. This is the same quantity of antibiotics estimated to be used each year in human medicine nationwide.
