The quality of feed in animal husbandry has always been a concern for many farmers, especially after the large-scale use of feed additives, many new problems have gradually emerged, and heavy metal poisoning is one of them. Heavy metals are hidden in feed additives, and currently, montmorillonite is the main feed additive. The raw material for montmorillonite production is natural bentonite, which contains various heavy metal substances.
If these heavy metals are not handled properly during the production process, it can lead to excessive levels of montmorillonite heavy metals in the feed. If animals consume feed with excessive heavy metal content for a long time, they will be poisoned. The common situations and manifestations of heavy metal poisoning are as follows:
Fluorosis: Animal derived feed products such as bone meal and meat and bone meal may contain varying amounts of fluoride due to differences in origin and raw materials. Animals raised in natural fluorine rich areas and industrial fluorine polluted areas can accumulate a large amount of fluoride in their bones. Products made from such animal based materials are inevitably high in fluoride content, and long-term and extensive use of such products can cause chronic fluorosis in livestock and poultry;
Fluorosis is mainly manifested as a decrease in egg production in poultry, as well as a decrease in the fertilization and hatching rates of breeding eggs; Causing a decrease in the immune system of farmed animals; Inhibiting the activity of oxidase and dehydrogenase, affecting metabolism, leading to animal emaciation and anemia; Causing bone malnutrition, fluorosis, joint stiffness, tooth discoloration, and enamel damage; Causing cardiovascular disease, stomach cancer, lung cancer, and even death;
Arsenic poisoning: It binds to the sulfur group of pyruvate oxidase, causing the enzyme to lose activity and affecting normal cellular metabolism, leading to cell death; Harm nerve cells, cause multiple neuropathy and central nervous system weakness, paralyze capillaries, and cause tissue nutrition disorders; The International Agency for Research on Cancer has announced arsenic as a carcinogenic factor; Acute arsenic poisoning can cause animals to die in a short period of time; Chronic arsenic poisoning, characterized by brittle hair, easy shedding, muscle atrophy, and limb pain;
Chromium poisoning: binding to nucleic acids and nuclear proteins in animal bodies, affecting the phosphorus content in tissues; Reduce the activity of amylase and prevent cysteine enzyme oxidation; Disrupting the oxygen carrying function of red blood cells can lead to lung cancer, especially chromium compounds that are soluble in acid but insoluble in water are more dangerous;
Lead poisoning: In the early stages, it can cause mild disturbances in the excitation and inhibition processes of the cerebral cortex, and in the later stages, it can lead to severe disturbances, causing dysfunction of the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems; Interference with hemoglobin synthesis; Causing paroxysmal spasms or paralysis of the intestinal tract; Causing interstitial nephritis, renal atrophy, and reducing animal immunity; It can enter the body of lactating piglets through breast milk, causing harmful effects; Can enter the fetus through the placenta, endangering the embryo;
Nitrite poisoning: According to foreign reports, sodium nitrite has been used as a preservative in the production process of fish meal. If the dosage is too large, it can cause nitrite poisoning in livestock, which may be converted into the carcinogen dimethyl nitrosamine;
Cadmium poisoning: reduces weight gain and feed conversion rate in broiler chickens; Causing anemia in pigs, anemia and renal dysfunction in sheep; Causing male animal sperm to lose activity; Causing symptoms and lesions of selenium and zinc deficiency in animals; Has inhibitory effects on animal cell and humoral immunity, reducing animal immunity;