This is extremely important.
Since 1996 farmers have been planting Bt corn. That corn has a gene from
the Bacillus thuringiensis bacteria engineered into it's DNA. The result is
that every cell of the corn plant produces a poison that kills insect
larvae. The corn that people and animals eat, therefore, contains this poison.
It was previously thought that the digestive process destroyed the poison.
Now it is found that the poison enters the bloodstream. No one yet knows the
effects on health or fetal development.
Senator Harkin, considered a progressive, has not spoken out on the
problems of genetic engineering in agriculture. I think it's time we urged him to
work on this issue.
We need, at the very least, clear labeling of genetically engineered foods
so that consumers can make informed choices, and very likely an outright
ban on those foods.
The edit in brackets, below, is mine.
Jim Diamond, MD, is the acting chair of the Sierra Club national Genetic
Engineering Action Team (GEAT).
--Tom
======================================================
Forwarding this from GM Freeze. This is the first time I’ve seen the
claim that “whole GM Bt toxins” were found in people’s blood – that is,
that the full Bt molecule escapes digestion and gets into the circulation.
This study hasn’t yet been published so we’ll be learning more soon.
- Jim Diamond, M.D.
-=-=-=-=-=-
Whole GM Bt Toxins Found in Human and Foetal Blood – GM crops and imports
must be halted
GM Freeze
Press release
Immediate Release 20 May 2011
New research from Canada has found a Bt toxin produced by GM insect
resistant crops in the blood of women and clear evidence that it was passed to
foetuses. [1]
Pesticides used on GM herbicide tolerant (HT) crops were also detected.
GM Freeze is calling for an immediate halt to GM Bt crop cultivation and
imports of Bt GM food and feed until the findings are properly evaluated and
further study confirms product safety. [2]
The same Bt toxin as detected by the researchers is present in Mon810
maize, which has EU cultivation approval but is currently banned in France,
Germany, Austria, Hungary, Luxemburg and Greece.
Regulators advise [make the claim that] that no GM protein survives intact
in the intestinal tract to enter the blood stream [4], so the detection of
intact Cry1Ab toxin in human blood is of great significance.
The new study was carried out by a team at Sherbrooke University Hospital
in Quebec and has been accepted for publication in the peer reviewed
journal Reproductive Toxicology. The team took blood samples from 30 pregnant
women prior to delivery, 30 samples from umbilical cords immediately after
birth and samples from 39 non-pregnant women who were undergoing treatment.
All the women were of a similar age and body mass index, and none worked with
pesticides or lived with anyone who did.
The results show that the toxic Bt protein Cry1Ab was present in blood
serum from all three sources (93% of pregnant women, 80% in umbilical blood
and 67% of non-pregnant women). The researchers suggest that the most
probable source of the toxin is GM food consumed as part of a normal diet in
Canada, where GM presence in food is unlabelled. The Canadian scientists have
not speculated on any health effects from the presence of Cry1Ab protein as
this was beyond the scope of their study.
The findings add to concerns about the toxicity and potential allergenicty
of Bt proteins expressed by many scientists. [3]
In a statement issued in July 2007 the European Food Safety Authority
stated:
"A large number of experimental studies with livestock have shown that
recombinant DNA fragments or proteins derived from GM plants have not been
detected in tissues, fluids or edible products of farm animals such as
broilers, cattle, pigs or quails."
This was subsequently adopted as the official advice of the UK's Food
Standards Agency in "Transfer of GM material from feed" [4].
Pete Riley of GM Freeze said:
"This research is a major surprise as it shows that the Bt proteins have
survived the human digestive system and passed into the blood supply –
something that regulators said could not happen.
"The study throws into serious doubt the validity of the risk assessment
carried out on Bt crops, which always assumed it would be destroyed in the
gut. Here there is also evidence that it has been passed on to foetuses.
"Regulators need to urgently reassess their opinions, and the EU should
use the safeguard clauses in the regulations to prevent any further GM Bt
crops being cultivated or imported for animal feed or food until the potential
health implications have been fully evaluated.
"GM techniques repeatedly produce unexpected outcomes. This is yet another
adding to the worry that its presence in the food chain is based on
partial information and false assumptions."
Twenty-four types of GM maize and cotton containing Bt GM traits have been
granted approval for importing into the EU and one can be grown (Mon810
maize). [5]
The researchers also looked for, and found, two herbicides used on GM
herbicide tolerant crops in blood samples. Glyphosate is used on Monsanto
Roundup Ready (RR) crops and Glufosinate on Bayer's Liberty Link (LL) crops.
Both were found in the non-pregnant women, as was glufosinate's metabolite
3-MMPA. The researchers did not speculate about potential health impacts, as
this was beyond the scope of their study, although concerns about the safety
of both weed killers have been repeatedly raised by other scientists since
their use on GM crops has increased their use. [6] Scientists are
particularly concerned that the studies done to demonstrate the "safety" of
glyphosate were not long enough to ensure there are not long-term or cumulative
health impacts of long-term exposure in food.
Use of glyphosate in South America and the US has escalated dramatically
since GM crops were approved in the mid 1990s, despite the assurances from
the GM industry that the intention of the crops is to reduce pesticide use.
As a result of the increased use of, and dependence on, a single herbicide,
weeds resistant to glyphosate have developed [7].
Safety concerns about both products have been growing since the
introduction of GM herbicide tolerant crops, including links to Parkinson's disease
and cancer in the case of glyphosate. [8] Residues of these herbicides in
food are infrequently monitored, and the maximum permitted residue level for
crops directly sprayed with glyphosate, such at GM HT crops, were raised
over 200 tines in the 1990s.
Pete Riley said:
"These weed killers are used directly on the growing crops close to
harvest, so there is no surprise that they can pass along the food chain and into
people. The long-term health implications of prolonged exposure to such
residues need to be properly investigated and there is very strong case for
suspending their use right now."
ENDs
Calls to Pete Riley 07903 341 065.
Notes
[1] Aziz A. and Leblanc S., 2010, Reproductive Toxicology, accepted 13
February 2011 Currently available online or from GM Freeze.
[2] See GM Freeze media briefing
_www.gmfreeze.org/uploads/GM_blood_study_summary_FINAL.pdf_
(http://www.gmfreeze.org/uploads/GM_blood_study_summary_FINAL.pdf) .
[3] Seralini G-E., Mesnage R. Clair E., Greese S., Spiroux de Vendômois
J.ann Cellier D., 2010. Environmental Sciences Europe 2011, 23:10, see
_www.enveurope.com/content/23/1/10_ (http://www.enveurope.com/content/23/1/10) .
[4] See _www.food.gov.uk/gmfoods/gm/gmanimal_
(http://www.food.gov.uk/gmfoods/gm/gmanimal) .
[5] See GMO Compass _http://www.gmo-compass.org/eng/gmo/db/_
(http://www.gmo-compass.org/eng/gmo/db/) .
[6] For instance see Benachour N and Séralini G-E, 2009. Glyphosate
Formulations Induce Apoptosis and Necrosis in Human Umbilical, Embryonic, and
Placental Cells, Chemical Research in Toxicology Vol22 No1 pp 97-105 available
from
_http://pubs.acs.org/doi/pdf/10.1021/tx800218n_ (http://pubs.acs.org/doi/pdf
/10.1021/tx800218n) .
[7] See _www.gmfreeze.org/uploads/resistance_full_Briefing_final.pdf_
(http://www.gmfreeze.org/uploads/resistance_full_Briefing_final.pdf)
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