Alvarleg eitrunaráhrif af erfðabreyttum maís og illgresiseyðinum Roundup

Oddný Anna Björnsdóttir skrifar um nýja rannsókn á eitrunaráhrifum af erfðabreyttum maís og illgresiseyðinum Roundup:

Eins og margir hafa tekið eftir var ný rannsókn birt í dag (sjá hér) sem sýnir fram á alvarleg eitrunaráhrif erfðabreytts maíss (e: GM corn) og mest notaða illgresiseyðis í heiminum, Roundup, sem er seldur í öllum helstu garðyrkjuverslunum á Íslandi.

Erlendir fréttamiðlar hafa logað vegna þessa og ákvað ég að setja hér inn í heild sinni mjög góða og ítarlega umfjöllun franskrar stofnunar um niðurstöður rannsóknarinnar (sjá neðst í pistlinum). Íslenskir miðlar munu væntanlega fjalla um rannsóknina á morgun.

Helstu niðurstöðurnar voru þær að illgresiseyðirinn og erfðabreytti maísinn (sem er ónæmur fyrir honum) geti valdið æxlum, marskonar skaða á innyflum og leitt til ótímabærs dauða. Sjá umfjöllun um niðurstöður rannsóknarinnar hér.

Stór hluti unninna matvæla (í Bandaríkjunum allt að 80%) inniheldur maís eða maísafurð (sjá lista yfir þær hér) og er yfir 65% af maís sem er ræktaður í Bandaríkjunum erfðabreyttur (sjá hér). Rétt er að geta þess að meirihluti kjarnfóðurs sem íslensku búfé er gefið er blandaður erfðabreyttu soja og maís. Einkum á þetta við um kjarnfóður í svína-, alifugla- og eggjaframleiðslu, en í vaxandi mæli einnig um kjarnfóður mjólkurkúa og annarra nautgripa.

Maísnum hefur verið erfðabreytt á þann hátt að hann er með innbyggt skordýraeitur sem steindrepur þau skordýr sem herja á hann á meðan reynt er að telja almenningi trú um að neysla hans hafi engin áhrif á heilsu manna og búfjár. Engar rannsóknir voru gerðar á því hvort hann væri öruggur áður en hann var settur á markað vegna pólitískra ítaka líftæknifyrirtækjanna og hagsmunatengsla inn í efstu lög bandarískrar stjórnsýslu sem hefur notað refsiaðgerðir og pólitískar þvinganir gegn ríkisstjórnum/löndum sem vilja banna ræktun á þessum maís í sínu landi. Sjá hér.

Maísinn er jafnframt ónæmur fyrir illgresiseyðinum Roundup sem drepur allt illgresi í kringum maísinn en hefur engin áhrif á maísplöntuna sjálfa. Notkun hans hefur valdið því að svokallað ofurillgresi (super weeds) hefur þróast sem bændur ráða ekkert við og sífellt þarf að nota meira og meira af eitrinu (sjá hér). Nú er svo komið að nánast öll vötn í USA eru menguð af eitrinu, þ.m.t. drykkjarvatn.

Þess má geta að líftæknifyrirtækið Monsanto sem er með einkaleyfi á bæði maísinum og eitrinu hefur nú sett $7,1 milljón (870.000.000 kr) í að berjast gegn tillögu um að erfðabreytt matvæli skuli merkt í Kaliforníu. DuPont, BASF, Bayer, DOW, PepsiCo, Nestlé, Coca Cola, Conagra og Syngenta hafa hvert um sig gefið $1-5 milljónir í baráttuna. Sjá meira hér.

France's Jose Bove, vice-chairman of the European Parliament's commission for agriculture og þekktur andstæðingur erfðabreyttrar ræktunar fór samstundis fram á að ræktun og innflutningur á erfðabreyttum nytjaplöntum yrði umsvifalaust stöðvuð.Hann sagði orðrétt: 'This study finally shows we are right and that it is urgent to quickly review all GMO evaluation processes,' he said in a statement. 'National and European food security agencies must carry out new studies financed by public funding to guarantee healthy food for European consumers.' Sjá frétt um það hér.

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Að lokum við ég setja hér inn svar mitt við staðhæfingu einstaklings um að:

1. Erfðabreytt ræktun dragi úr notkun eiturefna
2. Erfðabreytt ræktun dragi úr losun gróðurhúsalofttegunda
3. Erfðabreytt matvæli hafi engin neikvæð áhrif á heilsu manna og dýra

Ég ætla mér að vísa í “GMO MYTHS AND TRUTHS, An evidence-based examination of the claims made for the safety and efficacy of genetically modified crops” eftir Micheal Antoniou, John Fagan og Claire Robinson sem var gefin út í júní 2012: http://earthopensource.org/files/pdfs/GMO_Myths_and_Truths/GMO_Myths_and_Truths_1.1.pdf.

Til einföldunar verður svarið á ensku:

Regarding GM and pesticide use: See pages 74 -75, section 5.2 of GMO Myths and Truths.

Charles Benbrook used US Dept. of Agriculture statistics to show that in the first 13 years of growing GM crops (1996-2008) pesticide use increased dramatically. The report concluded that 318 million more pounds of pesticides were used as a result of planting GM seeds over the first 13 years of commercial use. In 2008, GM crop fields required over 26% more pounds of pesticides per acre (1 acre = 0.4 hectares) than fields planted to non-GM crops. The main reason pesticide use increased with GM crops is because after a few years of growing GM crops, weeds become resistant to the herbicide use with them and need additional applications of herbicides to control superweeds – often farmers had to use more toxic herbicides than glyphosate –

(The reference for Benbrook‘s report is no. 9 and appears at the back of section 5)

Regarding GM no-till crops and greenhouse emissions: See pages 102, section 6.2 of GMO Myths and Truths.

A comprehensive review of the scientific literature found that no-till fields sequester no more carbon than ploughed fields when carbon sequestration at soil depths greater than 30cm is taken into account – and therefore studies which only measure carbon sequestation down to less than 30cm do not give an accurate picture. It is worth pointing out that GM crops use more pesticides than other crops, (see above) and because making pesticides uses a lot of fossil fuels, (which emit greenhouse gases), the greenhouse emissions involved with GM crop production is greater than with conventional and organic crops.
(The reference for the study about 30cm depths is no. 20 and appears at the back of section 6)
GM no-till farming is discussed again: See page 76, section 5.3 as regards environmental considerations (not specifically greenhouse gas emissions).

Regarding GM health issues in animals: See page 37, section 3.1.1 of GMO Myths and Truths

There are 20 animal studies listed in the report that show adverse health effects to laboratory animals (mice, rats and rabbits) and farm animals (sheep and cows). These are listed (starting at the bottom of page 37) and continue on through page 39. Each study has at least one reference quoted and these references are listed at the back of section 3.

Regarding GM health issues in humans: See page 47, section 3.4 of GMO Myths and Truths

The biotech industry claims that GM food poses no threat to human health because the digestive system in mammals destroys all the GM DNA in food. However, studies have shown that GM DNA (and even whole proteins) can survive the digestive process and move into gut bacteria – and from there into blood. This process is called Horizontal Gene Transfer. The report lists four studies but the most important are the two below:

In a study on human volunteers, 2004, fed a single GM soybean meal, GM DNA survived digestive processing and was detected in the digestive tract. There was also evidence of Horizontal Gene Transfer.
(The references for this study are 61and 62 at back of section 3)

In 2010, another study carried out in Canada detected significant levels of the insecticide protein, Cry1Ab, (present in GM Bt crops like maize), circulating in the blood of pregnant women and in the blood supply of their unborn babies. (Bt is an insecticide engineered into Bt crops, which kills insects attacking the crop - but because it is contained within the maize plant, it will be ingested by consumers who eat foods containing Bt maize, and by animals fed Bt maize.)
(The reference for this study is 65 at the back of section 3)

like dicamba and 2,4-D (see page 75, 5.2.3)

 

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Hér er svo umfjöllun frönsku stofnunarinnar um rannsóknina sem var birt í dag.

 

We are all Guinea Pigs now!

Severe toxic effects of a GMO and the world's most used herbicide.

For the first time, the health impact of a GMO and a widely used pesticide have been comprehensively assessed * in a long term animal feeding trial of greater duration and with more detailed analyses than any previous studies, by environmental and food agencies, governments, industries or  researchers institutes.

The two tested products are in very common use : (i) a transgenic maize made tolerant to Roundup, the characteristic shared by over 80% of food and animal feed GMOs, and (ii) Roundup itself, the most widely used herbicide on the planet. The regulatory approval process requires these products to be tested on rats as a surrogate for humans.

The new research took the form of a two year feeding trial on 200 rats, monitored for outcomes against  more than 100 parameters. The doses were consistent with typical dietary/ environmental exposure (from 11% GMO in the diet, and 0.1 ppb in water).

The results, which are of serious concern, included increased and more rapid mortality, coupled with hormonal non linear and sex related effects. Females developed significant and numerous mammary tumours, pituitary and kidney problems. Males died mostly from severe hepatorenal chronic deficiencies. Professor Seralini's team in the University of Caen is publishing this detailed study in one of the leading scientific international peer-reviewed journals of food toxicology, on line on Sept. 19, 2012.

The implications are extremely serious. They demonstrate the toxicity, both of a GMO with the most widely spread transgenic character and of the most widely used herbicide, even when ingested at extremely low levels, (corresponding to those found in surface or tap water). In addition, these results call into question the adequacy of the current regulatory process, used throughout the world by agencies involved in the assessment of health, food and chemicals, and industries seeking commercialisation of  products

In view of these findings, the researchers consider that market authorisations for these products should be immediately reviewed. The 90 day test duration should be extended to 2 years for agricultural GMOs. In addition, all pesticides should be tested in their formulations (not the active principle alone) for 2 years, including at very low levels. Furthermore, in future the regulatory testing process for biotech and pesticide products should be transparent, open to public scrutiny, subject to independent review and performed independently of their firms in the future.

In the meantime, labelling of all GMOs in the feed/food should be mandatory, including livestock products from animals that have been fed GMO's. Finally, the nature of all compounds present in pesticide formulations should be made public.

*”Long term toxicity of a Roundup herbicide and a Roundup-tolerant genetically modified maize”. Food and Chemical Toxicology, Séralini G.E. et al. 2012.

The results of these experiments, the story and its implications have been explained in a book « Tous Cobayes ! » by Gilles-Eric Séralini, published on Sept. 26 by Flammarion. Simultaneously, a film adapted from this book “All guinea pigs ?” by Jean-Paul Jaud will be launched. A TV documentary “GMO, a World Alert ?” by François Le Bayon will be shown. The legal and social impact has been written « La vérité sur les OGM c’est notre affaire » by Corinne Lepage from the European Parliament, published by Charles Léopold Mayer.

For more details see www.criigen.org; contact criigen@unicaen.fr, +33 (0)2 31 56 56 84

Contact Laurent Payet Press Agent, Professor Gilles-Eric Séralini

Phone: +33 6 89 95 48 87

Email: Laurent@lp-conseils.com

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