Anil Aggrawal's Internet Journal of Forensic Medicine and Toxicology

Volume 7, Number 2, July - December 2006

Featured Books

(Review 7 - by Ramesh Kaul, USA, North America)

Poultry farming is a challenging task in the Modern World and this has been brought to light in its true perspective by Sylvia Tomlinson in her daring book titled Plucked and Burned.

Plucked and Burned starts with a tragic death by electrocution of a young illegal immigrant while catching broiler chickens. Illegal immigrants often work in extremely difficult and unhealthy conditions for which they are paid pennies. In addition to this hardship the author highlights the issue of child labor in the industry.

The story turns into a series of tragedies beginning with the apparent suicide, under mysterious circumstances, of a poultry farmer named Bruce. Later a character named Billy falls victim to arsine gas produced from the roxarsone put in the poultry feeds. The author mentions that this organic arsenic (roxarsone) that is put in feed can degrade by mold and moisture into inorganic arsenic. The arsine is called trimethylarsine and is 2000 times more toxic than carbon monoxide.

Arsenic is a metal that exists in a waxy state and is found in earth's crust. Volcanic action and ground water bring a lot of arsenic into human ingestion in Asia and South Americas. Arsenic is also a cheap fertilizer, insecticide and pesticide. This combination brings an enormous amount of arsenic to chicken feed throughout the world from various animal and vegetable sources. Combined with the possibly freak biological reactions that trigger the release of its gas and cause death, it is unconscionable that the poultry industry would deliberately add more arsenic to chicken feed.

The poultry Industry Czars in America have benefited from the human illegal labor abuse of those from Guatemala, Mexico and other foreign countries. Additionally they have avoided liability due to lack of accountability arising from their extreme wealth and influence.

With her penmanship, in the palatable form of a fiction novel, Sylvia has brought to the notice of readers a real and important health hazard.

-RAMESH KAUL MD.,MS., FCCP.
New Castle, PA 16105

-Ramesh Kaul Dr. Ramesh Kaul was born and brought up in India, where he qualified in medicine and surgery from the prestigious All India Institute of Medical Sciences. Later he obtained his post-doctoral qualification in otorhinolaryngology from the same institute. A man of many interests and tastes, he is widely known among his peers as the modern Leonardo da Vinci. He is Board Certified in Pulmonary Medicine, and is currently working as a pulmonologist in the US. He lives in Pittsburgh and New Castle, with his doctor wife and two children. He can be contacted at MDKAUL@aol.com

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 Order this Book by clicking here
Or by contacting the author personally at:
Sylvia Tomlinson
P O Box 4424
Victoria Texas 77903
USA

E-mails: sylvia@redbudpublishing.com;
ccr-firebirds@juno.com;
highplainsgypsy@yahoo.com

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-Anil Aggrawal

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