The High Cost of Chemically Grown and Processed Feed

Toxins are ubiquitous in the equine environment. As horse owners, we’re on high alert regarding additives and chemicals that cause immediate toxicity (i.e. ionophores). However, despite an increasingly robust scientific record we tend to ignore the information related to the cascade of long-term health consequences that occur as a result of everyday exposure to chemicals and residual compounds found in the soil, on plants, in water, and in/on feed.

Chemicals that may be detected as residues

Antibiotics used to control bacterial diseases in animals
Medications used to control internal parasites in animals
Fungicides used to control fungal diseases in plants and plant products
Insecticides and miticides used to control insect pests in crops, protect stored grain, and used to control external parasites on animals
Herbicides used to control weeds in crops
Plant growth regulators
Fumigants used to protect grain and sterilize the soil, sheds, and bee hives
Veterinary medicines

Chemical residues in crops and produce

Chemical residues will generally remain in a crop or its produce for a period of time after it has been treated with an agricultural chemical. The rate at which a chemical accumulates and degrades depends on a number of factors, including:

The rate of application and frequency used
The formula and properties of the active constituent in the chemical product
The adjuvants added to the chemical product at application
The equipment used
The climatic conditions during and after application
The crop characteristics and growth stage
The crop growth after application
The rate of chemical breakdown in plants, soil, or water, and the compounds resulting from the breakdown or deterioration of the original chemical formula

Agricultural chemicals and horses

Agricultural chemicals like RoundUp and Atrazine have been implicated in the interference of signaling pathways for a multitude of systemic health processes in horses including: illnesses associated with gut dysbiosis (i.e. gastric and/or hindgut ulceration), equine metabolic diseases (i.e. insulin resistance), equine metabolic syndrome, Cushings, chronic inflammation and weaknesses of the musculoskeletal systems, laminitis, weak hoof structure, liver and kidney disease.

Agro-chemical exposure has also been linked to chronic inflammation via direct injury to structural proteins called tight junctions. Tight junctions knit the cells together to create and maintain cellular integrity throughout the body, including in the linings of the gastrointestinal system, sinuses, kidney tubules, and the branches of the blood vessels that form the liver and the blood-brain barrier. The horse’s intestinal mucosa is intimately involved in maintaining homeostasis on a systemic level, where it must remain intact to control non-cellular fluid movement across membranes, and at the local system level by maintaining barrier function. When damage occurs and the integrity of the tight junctions is compromised, leaky gut results, causing both systemic inflammation and (possibly) system process dysfunctions.

Stay tuned for Part II, where I’ll discuss the pain loop created by exposure to agricultural chemicals, the microbiome, and chronic ill health, and how you can mitigate some of these risks for your horse

For more information related to this blog, please visit the following links.