A growing problem in the world today is the use of antibiotics and growth hormones in the animal production industry. However, for over sixty years Americans have been regularly exposed to hormones when consuming beef. (1) On average eighty percent of all farm cattle are given hormones to help them grow at a faster rate. (2) “In 1988 the European Union banned the use of all hormone growth promoters.” (1)Today farmers use six anabolic steroids in various combinations. “Those anabolic steroids are osetradiol, progesterone, testosterone, zeranol, trenbolone, and melengestrol.” (2) Three natural steroids are also used. Natural steroids are estradiol, testosterone and progesterone. Three synthetic hormones are also used which include the estrogenic compound zeranol, the androgen trenbolone acetate, and the progestin melengestrol acetate. (1) However, when hormones are administered to cattle, some of the natural hormone levels may increase seven to twenty times the normal level. Scientists have growing concerns about the use of hormones. Scientists worry about the use of hormones and their impact on the environment. Scientists worry about hormones excreted in manure. Scientists say that the hormones that enter the body are found in soil and water. Scientists also say that the hormones used influence human development through the human reproductive system. “High levels of hormones can cause problems in the human body, but the hormones we ingest can actually alter our hormone levels.” (3) There are studies that show that mothers who consumed meat during pregnancy have children with affected sperm counts. The sperm concentration of offspring born to mo...... middle of paper ......king that animal and being slaughtered for human consumption. If the meat is tested in a slaughterhouse and the amount of hormone in the meat is above the slaughter limit, the animal is discarded and not produced for human consumption. The protein content in the carcass of an animal that has been implanted with a hormone is usually increased by 10% or more. People say synthetic hormones could cause many human health risks, ranging from early puberty to cancer, which makes two-thirds of Americans worried about human health. use of synthetic growth hormones in cattle breeding. There are also many people who fear that using antibiotics to treat bacteria on farms could cause the drugs to become resistant to the bacteria, which also infect humans. It is said that hormones are used more in beef cattle farming than in dairy farming.