Use and Environmental Occurrence of Veterinary Pharmaceuticals in United States Agriculture

The purpose of this chapter is to familiarise the reader with the range of veterinary pharmaceuticals used in agriculture in the United States and to provide examples of the environmental occurrence of selected veterinary pharmaceuticals. A 1998 survey conducted by the Animal Health Institute (AHI) reported that there were 109 million cattle, 7.5 billion chickens, 92 million swine, and 292 million turkeys in the United States (AHI 2002). In comparison, a 2002 survey conducted by the National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) reported 104 million cattle, 8.6 billion chickens, 60 million swine, and 275 million turkeys in the United States (NASS, 2002). To increase the efficiency of food production and maintain economic viability, animal agribusinesses began contracting with cooperative farmers, which lead to a proliferation of large animal-feeing operations (AFOs) over the last decade. Because of the close proximity of the large numbers of animals at these facilities and the potential for the rapid spread of disease, use of pharmaceuticals is important to maintain their operations.

The large increase in AFOs also has resulted in questions as to whether there are potential on-farm human health risks of exposure to veterinary pharmaceuticals and to antibiotic-resistant bacteria and also whether there may be potential deleterious environment and and human health effects resulting from exposure to veterinary pharmaceuticals and antibiotic-resistant bacteria that may be transported into our water resources (e.g. DuPont and Steele 1987; Halling-Sorensen et al. 1998; Khachatourians; Levy 1998; Daughton and Ternes 1999; Ash and Mauck 2002; Graves et al. 2002; Boxall et al. 2003). To address these issues it is important to understand the use of veterinary pharmaceuticals and their occurrence, fate, and transport at the sources where they are excreted in the environment.

Meyer, M.T., 2004, Use and environmental occurrence of veterinary pharmaceuticals in United States Agriculture in Kummer, Klaus, editor, Pharmaceuticals in the environment, sources, fate, effects and risk: Springer-Verlag, chapter 12, p. 155-163.