Arsenic capable of causing leukemia, experts testify
Posted on Thursday, September 14, 2006
Experts in the trial of a case that claims Prairie Grove area residents were exposed to arsenic from chicken litter spread in the area spent much of their time Wednesday in Washington County Circuit Court testifying about arsenic’s effects on the human body.
William Sawyer, a toxicologist, testified that DNA changes when arsenic is present in the body, and, he added, studies have shown arsenic can cause leukemia.
The trial is in its second week and is expected to last until the end of next week. This is the first trial in a multi-lawsuit case in which plaintiffs allege that the feed additive roxarsone turns into a harmful form of arsenic that causes cancer when it degrades in chicken litter.
Plaintiffs in this trial are Michael and Beth Green and their son, Blu, whose leukemia is in remission.
They are suing Alpharma and Alpharma Animal Health, makers of roxarsone, the additive given to chickens to enhance growth and prevent diseases. The trial is being conducted in 4 th Circuit Judge Kim Smith’s court.
Arsenic, Sawyer said, interferes with DNA repair, and even at low levels, he added, it is known as a powerful promoter of cancer.
Also testifying about it being a promoter of cancer was Dr. James Dahlgren, whose areas of specialty are in toxicology and environmental medicine.
Dahlgren said arsenic disrupts all sorts of functions in the body.
“ It’s extremely toxic, ” he said.
There is “ no doubt in my mind, ” he said, that inorganic arsenic and arsenical gas are capable of causing cancer.
Sawyer said exposure to arsenic damages DNA in blood.
“ Is that why some people develop leukemia ? ” asked Keith Prudhomme, an attorney for the plaintiffs.
“ Yes, ” Sawyer said.
He also said, under direct questioning by Prudhomme, that the type of leukemia Blu Green was diagnosed with (at age 15 in 1999 ) was “ extraordinarily rare in children. ”
Sawyer also said he relied on peer-reviewed scientific literature to get information that supports increased rates of leukemia after exposure to arsenic.
Roxarsone breaks down into inorganic arsenic as a result of a biological process, he added, which is well-studied in scientific literature.
Under cross examination, Sawyer admitted that he is paid $ 335 per hour to testify, and that 85 percent of his income comes from litigation.
Dahlgren admitted under cross examination that he is paid $ 950 per hour for testifying, and is working and has worked in other cases with the law firm representing plaintiffs in this case.
Defendants’ attorney John Johnston asked Sawyer why he went running for 15 miles in Prairie Grove when he was there to do a toxicological assessment in the case last year, given the concerns about dust from chicken litter being spread.
Sawyer said he believed at that time that most of the poultry companies had stopped using roxarsone.
Johnston also brought up American Cancer Society literature that indicates the type of leukemia Green had is not thought to be caused by exposure to chemicals in the environment.
“ I agree with what you said, ” Sawyer said. “ That’s not all they say. ”
He said it is not exactly correct, but did not elaborate because Johnston had simply asked him a yes or no question.
Johnston mentioned a memorandum about the case as early as March 2003 in which biological testing of Green was discussed.
It was not done, Sawyer said, because blood and urine tests would only be reliable for several hours after exposure, and Tyson, as well as other companies, stopped using roxarsone.
Johnston, however, pointed out in cross examining him that there was plenty of time to do the testing before Tyson stopped using roxarsone in 2004.
Dahlgren, a medical doctor, also admitted to not taking blood or urine samples to test for arsenic exposure.
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