Danielle Knight
Inter Press Service English News Wire
10-17-2001
WASHINGTON, Oct. 16 (IPS) -- U.S. regulators today renewed the
registration of genetically engineered corn containing Bt toxin,
despite what critics call a lack of clarity over possible threats
to health and the environment.
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) granted five
different corn crops containing a gene from the natural soil
bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt), which is toxic to weeds
and other plants, a seven-year registration.
'Bt corn has been evaluated thoroughly by EPA, and we are
confident that it does not pose risks to human health or to the
environment,' said Stephen L. Johnson, assistant administrator of
the agency's Office of Prevention, Pesticides, and Toxic
Substances.
While declaring that the corn products are safe, the agency
said it was requesting additional environmental studies and
requiring that companies comply with several new provisions
designed to strengthen insect resistance management.
The decision brings to an end an almost two-year-long process
during which the agency reassessed the risks and benefits of
controversial Bt corn crops, produced by several biotechnology
companies. The companies holding registrations for Bt corn are
Monsanto, Syngenta, Pioneer/DuPont and Mycogen/Dow.
Biotech watchdogs immediately denounced the decision.
'Once again, the EPA has taken the interests of a few
corporations over public health and the environment,' Matt Rand,
manager of the biotech campaign at the Washington-based National
Environmental Trust (NET), told IPS.
Public concern worldwide over Bt corn grew after scientists at
Cornell University found in May 1999 that Bt corn pollen killed
monarch butterfly larvae.
Half of the monarchs -- cherished by nature lovers for their
unique bird-like migration in North America -- migrate along the
U.S. corn belt. The discovery that genetically altered corn
pollen will kill non-target species like monarch butterflies
alarmed many scientists and made front-page headlines around the
globe.
A scientific assessment of more recent research studies, which
was carried out by U.S. and Canadian researchers including the
Department of Agriculture, suggested that monarch butterfly
caterpillars face 'negligible' risk from Bt corn pollen.
'Their comprehensive, peer-reviewed studies in actual field
conditions show that earlier, widely publicized laboratory
experiments were not representative of conditions in a natural
environment,' said Linda Thrane, executive director of the
Council for Biotechnology Information, an industry organization.
Several scientists remain unconvinced.
The Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS), which asked
regulators not to renew the registrations, conducted its own
analysis of the risks and benefits of Bt corn, including the new
studies on monarchs.
'The studies leave open the possibility that exposure to Bt
corn may have long-term harmful effects on the butterflies,' said
Jane Rissler, a senior UCS staff scientist.
Several authors of the more recent studies have urged the EPA
to consider the possibility that the insects might not only
consume corn pollen, but corn tissue as well.
'If they do, the dose of toxin received by the monarchs could
be much higher than that considered,' said Rissler.
Karen Oberhauser, one of the authors of the recent monarch
studies, told IPS that assessing increased mortality rates of
monarchs is difficult because the larvae have such a high natural
mortality rate, ranging from 90 to 95 percent.
A significant statistical change would only show up if large
field tests were conducted across the country, unlike what
researchers have done so far, said Oberhauser, who is a professor
at the department of ecology, evolution and behavior at the
University of Minnesota.
'In my mind there are still questions,' she said.
A coalition of consumer and environmental groups, known as the
Genetically Engineered Food Alert, said government regulators
also failed to conduct studies on the impact that ingestion of
the corn could have on human health.
Advocacy groups said hundreds of reports of possible allergic
reactions to the engineered corn had not been investigated.
While the EPA's own scientific advisors recommended in July
that allergy tests be conducted, regulatory officials said no
tests were planned before the re-registering of Bt corn.
'The agency has had the ability for several years to design
and conduct allergy testing, yet they have refused,' said NET's
Rand.
In the absence of such allergy tests, advocacy groups they
will send samples of Bt corn varieties to allergists, who can
then test their patients through controlled 'skin prick' tests.
The groups would then make the test results public.
More than 200 people have reported unexplained allergies to
corn but no government investigation has examined all of the
cases, said Larry Bohlen, director of health and environment
programs for Friends of the Earth.
Last year, the coalition was first to alert the public that a
genetically modified corn variety, known as StarLink and not
approved for human consumption, had been found in taco shells and
other food products.
The announcement triggered hundreds of food recalls in the
United States.
In September, the Taco Bell restaurant franchise and several
other food companies filed a class-action lawsuit against Aventis
CropScience and other seed corporations that helped develop,
market and distribute StarLink.
The introduction of the unapproved altered seed has resulted
in 'major disruptions of the food supply,' the suit alleged.
Bohlen said the EPA's approval of Bt corn without testing for
allergies would again leave companies vulnerable to the same
liability issues they faced with Starlink.
Copyright 2001 IPS/GIN. The contents of this story can not be duplicated in any fashion without written permission of Global Information Network
Inter Press Service English News Wire
10-17-2001
WASHINGTON, Oct. 16 (IPS) -- U.S. regulators today renewed the
registration of genetically engineered corn containing Bt toxin,
despite what critics call a lack of clarity over possible threats
to health and the environment.
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) granted five
different corn crops containing a gene from the natural soil
bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt), which is toxic to weeds
and other plants, a seven-year registration.
'Bt corn has been evaluated thoroughly by EPA, and we are
confident that it does not pose risks to human health or to the
environment,' said Stephen L. Johnson, assistant administrator of
the agency's Office of Prevention, Pesticides, and Toxic
Substances.
While declaring that the corn products are safe, the agency
said it was requesting additional environmental studies and
requiring that companies comply with several new provisions
designed to strengthen insect resistance management.
The decision brings to an end an almost two-year-long process
during which the agency reassessed the risks and benefits of
controversial Bt corn crops, produced by several biotechnology
companies. The companies holding registrations for Bt corn are
Monsanto, Syngenta, Pioneer/DuPont and Mycogen/Dow.
Biotech watchdogs immediately denounced the decision.
'Once again, the EPA has taken the interests of a few
corporations over public health and the environment,' Matt Rand,
manager of the biotech campaign at the Washington-based National
Environmental Trust (NET), told IPS.
Public concern worldwide over Bt corn grew after scientists at
Cornell University found in May 1999 that Bt corn pollen killed
monarch butterfly larvae.
Half of the monarchs -- cherished by nature lovers for their
unique bird-like migration in North America -- migrate along the
U.S. corn belt. The discovery that genetically altered corn
pollen will kill non-target species like monarch butterflies
alarmed many scientists and made front-page headlines around the
globe.
A scientific assessment of more recent research studies, which
was carried out by U.S. and Canadian researchers including the
Department of Agriculture, suggested that monarch butterfly
caterpillars face 'negligible' risk from Bt corn pollen.
'Their comprehensive, peer-reviewed studies in actual field
conditions show that earlier, widely publicized laboratory
experiments were not representative of conditions in a natural
environment,' said Linda Thrane, executive director of the
Council for Biotechnology Information, an industry organization.
Several scientists remain unconvinced.
The Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS), which asked
regulators not to renew the registrations, conducted its own
analysis of the risks and benefits of Bt corn, including the new
studies on monarchs.
'The studies leave open the possibility that exposure to Bt
corn may have long-term harmful effects on the butterflies,' said
Jane Rissler, a senior UCS staff scientist.
Several authors of the more recent studies have urged the EPA
to consider the possibility that the insects might not only
consume corn pollen, but corn tissue as well.
'If they do, the dose of toxin received by the monarchs could
be much higher than that considered,' said Rissler.
Karen Oberhauser, one of the authors of the recent monarch
studies, told IPS that assessing increased mortality rates of
monarchs is difficult because the larvae have such a high natural
mortality rate, ranging from 90 to 95 percent.
A significant statistical change would only show up if large
field tests were conducted across the country, unlike what
researchers have done so far, said Oberhauser, who is a professor
at the department of ecology, evolution and behavior at the
University of Minnesota.
'In my mind there are still questions,' she said.
A coalition of consumer and environmental groups, known as the
Genetically Engineered Food Alert, said government regulators
also failed to conduct studies on the impact that ingestion of
the corn could have on human health.
Advocacy groups said hundreds of reports of possible allergic
reactions to the engineered corn had not been investigated.
While the EPA's own scientific advisors recommended in July
that allergy tests be conducted, regulatory officials said no
tests were planned before the re-registering of Bt corn.
'The agency has had the ability for several years to design
and conduct allergy testing, yet they have refused,' said NET's
Rand.
In the absence of such allergy tests, advocacy groups they
will send samples of Bt corn varieties to allergists, who can
then test their patients through controlled 'skin prick' tests.
The groups would then make the test results public.
More than 200 people have reported unexplained allergies to
corn but no government investigation has examined all of the
cases, said Larry Bohlen, director of health and environment
programs for Friends of the Earth.
Last year, the coalition was first to alert the public that a
genetically modified corn variety, known as StarLink and not
approved for human consumption, had been found in taco shells and
other food products.
The announcement triggered hundreds of food recalls in the
United States.
In September, the Taco Bell restaurant franchise and several
other food companies filed a class-action lawsuit against Aventis
CropScience and other seed corporations that helped develop,
market and distribute StarLink.
The introduction of the unapproved altered seed has resulted
in 'major disruptions of the food supply,' the suit alleged.
Bohlen said the EPA's approval of Bt corn without testing for
allergies would again leave companies vulnerable to the same
liability issues they faced with Starlink.
Copyright 2001 IPS/GIN. The contents of this story can not be duplicated in any fashion without written permission of Global Information Network
