Factory Farms as Primary Polluter

O ver the past 15 years, factory farms have replaced small family farms as the primary producers of livestock for human consumption in the U.S. These farms generate 1.4 billion tons of animal waste per year (130 times annual human waste production). One hog farm in North Carolina generates the same amount of waste as all of Manhattan. While Manhattan has a fairly effective sewage system, the hog farm’s manure ferments in an open lake, seeps into the local water supply, creates an unbearable stench for nearby residents, and can be widely disseminated by floods and hurricanes. As sewage from factory farms permeates local rivers, fish die, ecosystems are disrupted, and the growth of bacteria, which can cause human infection, is promoted. Not surprisingly, factory farms have replaced industrial factories as the number one polluter of American waterways.

Almost all of the eight billion cattle, poultry, and swine raised for human consumption in the U.S. each year receive antibiotics to “promote growth.” The Union of Concerned Scientists estimates that non-therapeutic livestock use, primarily by large factory farms, accounts for 70 percent of antibiotic use in the U.S., an increase of 50 percent over the last 15 years. Agricultural antibiotic use facilitates the development of antibiotic-resistant bacteria. For instance, enterococcus bacteria resistant to the antibiotic vancomycin, and only partly responsive to recently developed antimicrobials, plague intensive care unit patients in increasing numbers; spread of this organism was likely promoted by the use of avoparcin, a vancomycin-like antibiotic fed to chickens. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have declared that antibiotic use in food animals is the dominant source of antibiotic resistance among food-borne pathogens affecting humans.

 Campylobacter, the most common food-borne infection in the U.S., causes 2.5 million cases of diarrheal illness and 100 deaths annually. The incidence of food-borne Campylobacter resistant to fluoroquinolones, the class of antibiotic commonly used to treat this disease, rose from 13 percent in 1998 to 18 percent in 1999. Over the same period, fluoroquinolone use in animals rose 40 percent. Two fluoroquinolones, sarafloxacin (trade name Saraflox) and enrofloxacin (trade name Baytril), have been widely used on factory farms. Recently, the Food and Drug Administration declared that “the only option to protect human health from antibiotic resistant Campylobacter is to cease the use of fluoroquinolones in poultry.” In response to an FDA-proposed ban, Abbott Laboratories voluntarily withdrew sarafloxacin from the market. Despite calls from the American Public Health Association, Physicians for Social Responsibility, and others, Bayer Corporation has refused to pull Baytril off the market and is fighting the FDA-proposed ban. 

Of note, outlawing the sub- and non-therapeutic use of antibiotics in factory farms and instead focusing on disease prevention and improved sanitation, diet, habitat, vaccination, and treatment of specific infections is not only more humane, but would minimally increase meat costs to consumers, while helping to lower the estimated $4 billion spent each year on antibiotic-resistant infections in humans. Of course, increasing the proportion of vegetables and fruits in our diets would have direct health benefits to individuals, and also would cut down on agricultural antibiotic-associated human infections.

The Checkered History of Bayer

B ased in Leverkusen, Germany, the Bayer Corporation employs 120,000 individuals worldwide and boasts annual sales of $28 billion. Its largest market is the U.S. It produces pharmaceuticals, genetically-modified crops, is the third largest manufacturer of herbicides in the world, and dominates the insecticide market. Following its 2001 purchase of Aventis CropScience, it became the number one biotech company in Europe, where it controls over half of the genetically-modified crop varieties up for approval for commercial use. In 2001, Fortune Magazine named Bayer “one of the most admired companies in the United States”; Multinational Monitor , on the other hand, labeled it one of the “Ten Worst Corporations of the Year.”

The company has an ignominious history of unethical practices and violations of federal statutes. In World War I, Bayer helped to invent chemical warfare and developed the “School for Chemical Warfare” in Germany. In World War II it was part of the IG Farben conglomerate, which exploited slave labor at Auschwitz and conducted unethical human subject experiments. In the early 1990s, the company admitted knowingly selling HIV-tainted blood clotting products which infected up to 50 percent of hemophiliacs in some developed countries. U.S. class action suits related to these sales were settled for $100,000 per claimant, while European taxpayers were left to foot most of the bills for the care of these unfortunate patients. From 1995 on, Bayer has failed to follow its promise to withdraw its most toxic pesticides from the market, and failed to educate farmers in developing countries regarding health risks associated with exposure to its pesticides, undoubtedly thereby contributing to the 2 million to 10 million poisonings and 200,000 deaths per year that the World Health Organization attributes to pesticide exposure.

In 1998, Bayer paid Scottish adult volunteers $750 each to swallow doses of the insecticide Guthion to, according to the company, “prove the product’s safety.” In 2000, the FDA and the Federal Trade Commission cited Bayer for misleading claims regarding aspirin and heart attacks and strokes. That same year, it was fined by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration for workplace safety violations related to exposures to carcinogenic MDA, and by the Commerce Department for violations of export laws. In 2001, FDA-reported violations in Bayer’s quality control contributed to a worldwide shortage in clotting factor for hemophiliacs.

Despite these egregious violations of common law and human rights, Bayer is seen by many as an established, caring company, known mainly for its aspirin, which many of us have used since youth. To maintain its public image, Bayer resorts to “greenwash,” advertising designed to portray its products as eco-friendly (e.g., pesticides are called “crop protection”); “bluewash,” identifying itself with the United Nations through its status as a signatory to the UN’s global compact (despite its ongoing violations of this agreement); the promotion of a stealth anti-environmental health agenda, via sponsorship of the so-called “Wise Use” and “Responsible Care” movements and membership in corporate front groups such as “The Global Crop Protection Federation” (whose name belies its intent, which is not so much crop protection as the increased use of both genetically-modified organisms and pesticides); and harassment/SLAPP suits (Strategic Lawsuits Against Private Parties), designed to discredit (and deplete the financial resources of) watchdog groups such as “The Coalition Against Bayer Dangers.” Bayer is a member of numerous lobbying groups attacking “trade barriers” (i.e., environmental health and safety laws). The company has donated $600,000 to U.S. politicians over the last five years, and gave $120,000 to President George W. Bush’s 2000 election campaign.

Bayer produces a human fluoroquinolone, ciprofloxacin (trade name Cipro, similar chemically to the Baytril used agriculturally). Cipro is one of the two treatments of choice (along with the much cheaper and equally effective doxycyline) for anthrax. Bayer stands to make large profits off of Cipro through physician prescriptions ($4.50 per pill in the drugstore) and sales to the U.S. government, for a proposed stockpile to treat a potential 10 million exposed patients (at $0.95 per pill, which is still twice what the government pays for Cipro under another program and over four times the price one generic manufacturer has proposed). Cipro’s patent was set to expire in 2004, but it has been granted an additional 6 months patent protection under the FDA’s pediatric extension bill, in exchange for conducting safety and efficacy tests on children. Cipro has been the bestselling antibiotic in the world for the last 8 years, and is currently the 11th most prescribed drug in the U.S. (20th in sales). Gross sales in 1999 for Cipro were $1.04 billion; sales increased 20-25 percent one month after the 2001 anthrax mailings. Even at the reduced price, Bayer stands to make enormous profits by providing Cipro for the government stockpile, not to mention potential sales to all 280 million Americans.

The U.S. government has the authority, under existing law, to license generic production of ciprofloxacin by other companies (which could cost as little as $0.20 per pill), in the event of a public health emergency. The government refused to deem the late 2001 spate of anthrax exposures, and the potential for a large scale anthrax attack, a public health emergency. Why? Because doing so would have weakened its case, presented to the World Trade Organization (WTO) meeting in Qatar, that the massive suffering consequent to 25 million AIDS cases in sub-Saharan African nations does not constitute enough of a public health emergency to permit these countries to obtain and produce cheaper generic versions of largely unavailable anti-AIDS drugs. The government’s stance is likely related to the record $80 million dollars spent by drug companies on campaign donations in the most recent national elections. Fortunately, the WTO ministers voted in favor of the developing world.

Suggestions for Citizen Action

I n the case of Bayer and its fluoroquinolone antibiotics, corporate profits and influence peddling are triumphing over public health and rational science. Stronger regulation over agricultural antibiotic use and pricing of human pharmaceuticals is urgently needed, as well as stiffer penalties for corporate malfeasance (fines and prison sentences). Concerned citizens should support locally-produced, antibiotic-free meat from small farms (contact the Bayer Corporation, 100 Bayer Road, Pittsburgh, PA 15205-9741; 412-777-2000 to protest Bayer’s failure to cease production of Baytril); and contact their legislators and the White House to demand increased availability of generic ciprofloxacin and anti-AIDS drugs, at home and abroad, under existing law and trade agreements.