Bone meal

Encyclopedia : B : BO : BON : Bone meal

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Bone meal is a mixture of crushed and coarsely ground bones that is used as an organic fertilizer for plants and in animal feed. As a fertilizer, bone meal is primarily used as a source of phosphorus.

Bone meal once was often used as a dietary calcium supplement. Research in the 1980s found that many bone meal preparations were contaminated with lead and other toxic metals, and it is no longer recommended as a calcium source.

Health risks

In the 1990s, bone meal was also identified as a vector for bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE, or "mad cow disease") among livestock. It is believed that bone meal produced from the corpses of sheep bearing scrapie fed to cows in the 1970s caused BSE in the cattle it was fed to.

Sources

• [PDRhealth entry on bone meal]
• [BSE information from the Centers for Disease Control]

 

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