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.
For more information related to this blog, please visit the following links.
-
https://www.morrisanimalfoundation.org/article/morris-animal-foundation-funded-study-shows-endocrine-disrupting-chemicals-linked-equine
- https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2772753X23003180
- https://wwwn.cdc.gov/TSP/PHS/PHS.aspx?phsid=336&toxid=59
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3279464/
- https://www.forbes.com/sites/johnlamattina/2018/06/28/the-biopharmaceutical-industry-provides-75-of-the-fdas-drug-review-budget-is-this-a-problem
- https://www.mprnews.org/story/2024/05/28/former-3m-scientist-talks-pfas-contamination-decadeslong-corporate-coverup
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9229215/
- https://blogs.edf.org/health/2023/09/06/broken-gras-companies-ignore-fda-draft-guidance-bias-conflicts-of-interest-prevail-in-safety-determinations/
~ From the desk of Mary Hartman, CEO & Founder
