they invariably must sign a product stewardship agreement that forbids them from giving such seeds to researchers.” Plus, “Researchers must get permission from the biotech companies before they can do research, which means there is a paucity of independent research.” The good news is that last June, the AMA recommended mandatory pre-market safety testing to better characterize the potential harms of bioengineered foods.
Claim: GMO crops use fewer pesticides, and those used are safer than most others and break down quickly.
Fact Check: Roundup herbicide is increasingly sprayed on a growing number of herbicide-resistant GMO crops, including corn, soy, canola, sugar beets and most recently, alfalfa. By tracking the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s pesticide use data, Charles Benbrook, research professor at the Center for Sustaining Agriculture and Natural Resources, at Washington State University, discovered that herbicide-resistant crop technology led to a 527-million-pound increase in herbicide use in the United States between 1996 and 2011.
With the growing presence of herbicide-resistant weeds, new GE forms of corn and soybeans have been developed to resist stronger and more dangerous herbicides, such as 2,4-D, one of the two ingredients in Agent Orange, a defoliant used in the Vietnam War. Benbrook projects that these new GMO crops could drive herbicide usage up by about another 50 percent. According to Warren Porter,
Ph.D., a biologist and environmental toxicology professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and Theo Colborn, Ph.D., president of The Endocrine Disruption Exchange, glyphosate, the active chemical ingredient in Roundup, is an endocrine disruptor, meaning it interferes with hormone systems. Porter says we can expect higher
levels of herbicide residues in GMO food crops. A report from the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) found that glyphosate is now commonly found in rain, streams and air during the growing season. “Though glyphosate is the most widely used herbicide in the world, we know very little about its long-term effects to the environment,” cautions Paul Capel, a USGS chemist.
A Canadian study showing that the Bt toxins from GMO corn are showing up in umbilical cord blood and the blood of pregnant women is another concern. Monsanto claims Bt is harmless and will break down in our digestive tracts. But we have no way of knowing the effect of these toxins on developing fetuses, says Marcia Ishii-Eiteman, Ph.D., a senior scientist with the Pesticide Action Network.
Claim: GMO labeling isn’t necessary.
Fact Check: Hansen believes that if there are unexpected adverse health effects resulting from consuming GMO foods, a product label would allow people to begin connecting symptoms with foods consumed. Until there is consistent, national GMO food labeling, everyone is just dining in the dark.
Learn more and take action at
JustLabelIt.org.
Melinda Hemmelgarn, aka the “Food Sleuth,” is a registered dietitian and award- winning writer and radio host at
kopn.org, in Columbia, MO (Food Sleuth@gmail. com). She advocates for organic farmers at
Enduring-Image.blogspot.com.
February 2013
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