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Abstract

Hormone growth implants are commonly used in cattle to increase growth and there is some concern that these implants may result in altered hormone concentrations in the beef from implanted cattle. This study aims to (1) develop a simple, standard, cost-effective method to measure hormones in beef and (2) compare hormones in meat from cattle not exposed to growth implants (negative controls), cattle exposed to growth implants (positive controls), and from a commercial retail store. Extraction and measurement using LCMS/MS was successful in detecting 17b-estradiol, progesterone, testosterone, and a-zeranol in meat, with a trend to lower concentrations in meat not exposed to growth implants. Progesterone concentrations were significantly higher in big box store ground beef (mean=6906 ppb; p=0.0106) and ribeye steaks (mean=909 ppb; p=0.025) when compared to positive (mean=195ppb for beef, nondetectable for ribeye) and negative controls (mean=45.7 for beef, nondetectable for ribeye). a-Zeranol was higher in big box store ribeye (mean=197 ppb) compared to the positive controls (both nondetectable; p=0.025), and testosterone was significantly higher in ribeye positive controls (mean=102.4 than the negative controls (ND ,p=0.0095), and the same was true for ground beef with positive controls (mean=105.7 ppb) having higher concentrations than negative controls (mean=50.8 ppb, p=0.0380). Future studies should use this measurement protocol to examine meat from many more farms and commercial retail stores and should examine the impact of cooking on these compounds in meat.

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