STUDIES REFUTE ARSENIC-BASED LIFE CLAIMS

In 2010, scientists announced that they had found a bacterium in California’s arsenic-rich Mono Lake capable of substituting arsenicfor phosphorus—one of six elements considered essential for life—in critical parts of its working biology, including its DNA. The announcement raised the possibility that similar life forms could exist elsewhere in the universe. However, two new scientific papers refute the findings, claiming that there is no evidence arsenic was incorporated into the microbe‘s DNA and that the samples taken in the original study did in fact contain trace amounts of phosphorous that would account for the microbe’s growth. More… Discuss

Pfizer Suspends Sales of Chicken Drug With Arsenic: via The New York Times.

Pfizer Suspends Sales of Chicken Drug With Arsenic (click to read the article at The New York Times)

Pfizer Suspends Sales of Chicken Drug With Arsenic

By GARDINER HARRIS and DENISE GRADY

Published: June 8, 2011

WASHINGTON — Farmers have for decades fed chickens an arsenic-containing drug that promotes growth, but after a government study found trace amounts of this poisonous carcinogen in chickens, its maker will suspend its sales.

Officials at the Food and Drug Administration said the amounts found were so low that chickens treated with the drug, called 3-Nitro, do not pose a serious health risk and will continue to be sold. Perdue and organic chicken producers do not use the drug.
(Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/09/business/09arsenic.html?_r=2&ref=health)

Related articles

• U.S. sales of widely used drug for chickens to be suspended (cnn.com)
• Some Chicken May Contain Arsenic, FDA Says (huffingtonpost.com)
• FDA: Some chicken may have small amount of arsenic (usatoday.com)