The National Pork Producers Council (NPPC) will submit comments on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) toxicological review of formaldehyde, which is used in pork production to prevent Salmonella infections in pigs and as a disinfectant, among other things.
For as long as there have been animals, there has been Salmonella.
“The harder you look for it, the more you can find it,” says Paul Sundberg, executive director of the Swine Health Information Center (SHIC). It’s ubiquitous. It’s everywhere. It’s not going to go away.
Salmonella is an opportunistic bacterium that loves to “get into something at risk,” Sundberg explains. If it can find an immune system that is not quite up to speed in pigs, cows or humans, Salmonella will go for it.
In addition, pork industry-funded research even has demonstrated formaldehyde’s potential as a mitigant for contamination of feeds with viruses such as African swine fever (ASF).
In Mid-April, EPA released a draft risk assessment on formaldehyde for public comment in advance of an external peer review that will be conducted by the National Academy of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.
NPPC met with other agricultural groups and senior EPA leadership on the assessment last week and requested an extension of the comment period, which runs through June 13. The organizations will file a written request for an extension this week.
For more information and to submit comments, click here.
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