Digestive enhancers can help meet Kyoto methane targetAntibiotic digestive enhancers can help governments meet their Kyoto summit environmental targets, says the National Office of Animal Health. At the Kyoto summit the UK Government agreed to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases. Farming is responsible for 28% of UK methane emissions, (a) so it is a target area for reduction. According to ADAS, methane is a potent greenhouse gas, 15-30 times more so than carbon dioxide. But as it stays in the atmosphere for 10 years, compared with 100 years for CO2, cutting down methane products will have a more immediate environmental benefit.(b) Animals fed antibiotic digestive enhancers digest their food more efficiently, so excrete up to 15% less methane than those given feed alone. (c) So, digestive enhancers are currently helping to minimise emissions from farm animals. However, this environmental benefit is under threat from repeated political pressure on the products remaining. Against scientific advice, 5 antibiotic digestive enhancers have already been withdrawn due to unsubstantiated alleged links to antibiotic resistance. Any move to remove the remaining digestive enhancers would be contrary to agreed Government environmental policy, without any direct benefit to the public, says NOAH. A full risk benefit analysis is needed before making decisions on a precautionary basis. If all dietary enhancers were taken out of animals’ diets in just France, Germany and the UK alone, this would lead to an estimated 1,246,000 cubic metres of extra methane being excreted into the air each day. (c) As well as this, animals require more food, excrete more nitrogen and phosphorus and increase manure production by about 7 million cubic metres/ year - equivalent to 3500 Olympic swimming pools!
30 November 1999 Notes for EditorsFor further information contact Roger Cook or Alison Glennon at NOAH, tel. +44 (0)20 8367 3131, or visit the NOAH website. The National Office of Animal Health was formed on 1 January 1986 to represent the UK companies which research, develop, manufacture and market licensed animal health products. The association has 36 corporate members and 10 associate members. In 1998 NOAH's members accounted for around 95% of the £384 million UK animal health market, with additional valuable exports. In 1997 the Third Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change was held in Kyoto. The EU agreed to cut its emissions of all greenhouse gases taken together to 8% below 1990 levels in the period 2008 to 2012. - References:
(a) ADAS figures quoted in Farmers Weekly article ‘Research breaks official pledge to reduce methane’, Farmers Weekly, 12 November 1999. (b) Figures from Briefing Document 7 ‘Environmental Benefits of Dietary Enhancing Feed Additives’ (available on request from the NOAH office). (c) MAFF figures from MAFF Website
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