Arsenic and cattle

I had made an unsupported statement about a year and a half ago
that cattle required a small amount of arsenic in their diets to
survive. I was asked for any sort of literature support and
found very little at the time.

http://www.ead.anl.gov/pub/doc/arsenic.pdf
"Depending on the amount ingested, arsenic can be beneficial
(animal studies suggest that low levels of arsenic in the diet
are essential) or adverse (high levels can be toxic)."

http://horse.purinamills.com/bulletins/poison/lamenessinducing.html

"The toxic effects of selenium in ruminants varies, depending on
the amount and rate of its absorption, the individual animal's
susceptibility, the type of selenium present in the plant, and
the interaction of selenium with other elements, such as sulfur,
arsenic, or copper, in the diet. These minerals, and possibly
others, competitively interfere with selenium absorption by
ruminants. If this also occurs in horses, adequate amounts of
these minerals in their diet may help reduce selenium poisoning
for them, although currently this hasn't been demonstrated."

Still no real pointers to peer reviewed literature... but, if you
have healthy cattle, you have some arsenic. This is beef, milk,
and ground or surface water near where they "eliminate". And
arsenic is not limited to cattle...

David A. Smith


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Relevant Pages

  • Re: Arsenic and cattle
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  • Re: Arsenic and cattle
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  • Re: Arsenic and cattle
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