With hardly a mention in the American press, the results of the largest
field study ever conducted on genetically engineered crops were just made
public in Europe. The British government research concluded that
genetically engineered crops could lead to significantly lower numbers of
insects, an important part of the wildlife food chain.
Of the three crops examined corn, canola, and sugar beet the
genetically engineered varieties of canola and sugar beet were found to be
more harmful to wildlife than conventional varieties. The results for corn
were inconclusive because the chemical used to kill weeds in
non-genetically engineered fields was an insecticide so dangerous that the
European Union has now decided to ban it.
The environmental risks of genetically engineered crops are many, and
this research only examined a small subsection. For example, the long term
impacts of genetically engineered crops on the soil, or the impacts of
gene flow from genetically engineered varieties to conventional varieties,
were not examined in this research, and the incomplete research on these
two issues alone raises serious issues that should necessitate caution
before going forward with commercial plantings of genetically engineered
varieties. But with only the findings of the research from the new
studies, overseen by Britains Scientific Steering Committee, the
independent research work recommended that canola and beet should not be
grown in Britain.
In the United States, more than 40,000 Department of Agriculture
(USDA)-authorized field trials have taken place over the past 16 years,
with each trial an opportunity to examine the environmental impacts of
genetically engineered crops on the environment. Yet because of a policy
seemingly designed to find nothing, nothing has been found.
Thus the British government was able to determine in three years of
research what the U.S. government and biotechnology industry couldnt
figure out in sixteen.
Last week, the USDA released information about compliance with their
field testing regulations. After years of pressure to release this
information under the Freedom of Information Act by U.S. PIRG and other
groups, the agency announced that 115 violations of their regulations have
taken place over the past decade, that most were not previously disclosed,
and that in almost all cases the response to institutions breaking the
rules was nothing more than a phone call or letter.
So we are left with an unfortunate situation: the most recent and
comprehensive research on the environmental risks of genetically
engineered crops indicate negative environmental impact, and yet the crops
are already planted widely in the United States. Of course the situation
is even more serious, because the risks associated with genetically
engineered crops are not limited to their environmental impacts, but also
include human health risks. While oversight at USDA regarding
environmental risk is inadequate, oversight at the Food and Drug
Administration regarding human health risk is almost nonexistent, since
the agency does not even require any mandatory pre-market safety
assessments for genetically engineered crops.
Genetically engineered crops were introduced in the U.S. before
regulations were put in place to handle them., Research on their
environmental and human health risks increasingly points to serious
problems. Hopefully the most recent round of studies will jolt U.S.
regulatory agencies into taking appropriate action to protect the American
public.
Richard Caplan has been a Food Safety Advocate with the U.S. Public
Interest Research Group in Washington, DC since 1999. U.S. PIRG is the
national lobby office for the state PIRGs, non-profit, non-partisan public
interest advocacy organizations active around the
country.