NEWS and RESEARCH - USDA Foreign Substances Results for 2008

Here is another list compilation. This is the results of using "sniffer" technology to detect foreign chemicals on a horse's legs. Click here for the original PDFs from the USDA website. The "sniffer" is a gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS) device. Usually used in detecting chemicals in soil, it analyzes the molecules present in the sample and can determine exactly what base chemcials are included in the sample. Click here for more info.

Since there are six separate files concerning the findings, I compiled all the information in this link for ease of reading. I added the percentages of compliance versus non-compliance to give readers a good idea of what the actual numbers are (remember to be wary of the "98% compliant" claim).

Overall, of the 131 horses tested for foreign substances under the HPA, only approximately 66% of the horses were found in compliance. A far cry from the usually stated 98%!