EPA Paves Pathway for 'Agent Orange' GM Corn
EPA rejects petition
to ban pesticide; Paves way for widespread use on Dow Chemical's genetically
modified corn seeds
- Common Dreams staff
The Environmental Protection Agency rejected a petition to
ban the sale of the 2,4-D pesticide, a major ingredient in the Vietnam-era
defoliant 'Agent Orange'. Despite its current widespread availability, use of
2,4-D could skyrocket soon because its main manufacturer, Dow Chemical, is
hoping to receive approval to sell genetically modified corn seeds that are
resistant to 2,4-D.
The decision from the EPA came in response to a lawsuit from
the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) in January of this year, who filed
the suit after the EPA refused to respond to a petition the environmental group
first submitted in 2008.
“This dangerous pesticide is lurking all over the place –
from ball fields and golf courses, to front lawns and farms – exposing an
enormous amount of the American public to cancer and other serious health risks,”
NRDC senior scientist Dr. Gina Solomon said, during the announcement of the
move in January. “There’s no reason to continue allowing a toxic Agent
Orange-ingredient in the places our children play, our families live and our
farmers work. EPA must step up and finally put a stop to it.”
The EPA's decision on Monday, however, rejected the idea
that 2,4-D was a health or "safety" threat, and even pointed to a Dow
Chemical conducted study to support their decision.
The Center for Food Safety, who worked alongside NRDC to
push the ban, expressed deep concern for the increased use of 2,4-D if Dow's
new corn seeds are approved. “Dow’s ‘Agent Orange’ corn will trigger a large
increase in 2,4-D use—and our exposure to this toxic herbicide—yet USDA has not
assessed how much, nor analyzed the serious harm to human health, the
environment or neighboring farms,” said Andrew Kimbrell, executive director of
the Center for Food Safety. “This novel corn will foster resistant weeds that
require more toxic pesticides to kill, followed by more resistance and more
pesticides—a chemical arms race in which the only winners are
pesticide/biotechnology firms.”
* * *
The New York Times
reports:
[NRDC] cited various studies suggesting that exposure to
2,4-D could cause cancer, hormone disruption, genetic mutations and
neurotoxicity. It also said the E.P.A., in previous assessments, had
underestimated how much people, especially children, might be exposed to the
chemical through dust, breast milk and skin contact.
In its ruling, the E.P.A. said that while some studies cited
suggested that high doses of the chemical could be harmful, they did not
establish lack of safety, and in some cases they were contradicted by other
studies.
The agency in particular cited a study, financed by the
2,4-D manufacturers and conducted by Dow, in which the chemical was put into
the feed of rats. The study did not show reproductive problems in the rats or
problems in their offspring that might be expected if 2,4-D were disrupting
hormone activity, the E.P.A. said.
* * *
Center for Food
Safety: The Danger of 'Agent Orange' Corn
If approved, millions of acres of “Agent Orange” corn could
be planted as early as next year, raising concern for its adverse health
impacts. 2,4-D was one of the main ingredients in Agent Orange, the chemical
defoliant used by the U.S.
in the Vietnam War. Agent Orange was contaminated with dioxins, a group of
highly toxic chemical compounds, which are responsible for a host of serious
medical conditions—from diabetes to cancer to birth defects—in Vietnam
veterans as well as Vietnamese and their children. Industry’s own tests show
that 2,4-D is still contaminated with dioxins.
“Many studies show that 2,4 D exposure is associated with
various forms of cancer, Parkinson’s Disease, nerve damage, hormone disruption
and birth defects,” said Dr. Amy Dean, an internal medicine physician and
president-elect of the American Academy of Environmental Medicine. “Because it
poses significant health risk, exposure should not be increased, but
significantly reduced to protect the public’s health.”
2,4-D drift and runoff also pose serious risk for
environmental harm. Because it is such a potent plant-killer, 2,4-D can harm
animals by killing the plants they depend on for habitat and food. The U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency and the National Marine Fisheries Service have
found that 2,4-D is likely having adverse impacts on several endangered
species, even now. 2,4-D is currently used to control weeds primarily in cereal
grains and lawns. Its use in corn has been extremely limited. USDA’s approval
of 2,4-D resistant GE corn will increase the overall use of this toxic
herbicide, worsening these impacts and likely placing many other species at
risk.
American farmers are also rightly concerned that the
introduction of 2,4-D resistant corn will threaten their crops: 2,4-D drift is
responsible for more episodes of crop injury than any other herbicide. “In my
experience, 2,4-D is an herbicide that can and does drift considerable
distances to damage neighboring crops,” said Indiana farmer Troy Roush. “We can expect
greatly increased use of 2,4-D with Dow’s new corn, and that could wreak havoc
with soybeans, tomatoes and other crops my neighbors and I grow.”
The advent of Dow’s 2,4-D resistant corn is a clear
indication that first-generation genetically engineered, herbicide-resistant
crops—Monsanto’s Roundup Ready (RR) varieties—are rapidly failing. RR crops,
which comprise 84 percent of world biotech plantings, have triggered massive
use of glyphosate (Roundup’s active ingredient) and an epidemic of
glyphosate-resistant weeds. These resistant “superweeds” are regarded as one of
the major challenges facing American agriculture.
Freshthemovie.com presents the option of signing a petition:
The USDA is taking public comments until Friday, April 27th. Weigh in to say: We do not need Dow’s 2,4-D seeds.
Why would farmers even be interested in 2,4-D seeds? The reason is that the previous generation of GM seeds-developed to tolerate Monsanto’s Roundup herbicide-have led to the growth of Roundup-resistant weeds. This epidemic of “superweeds” has alarmed farmers and scientists, triggering even more herbicide applications and the desire to use older, even more toxic chemicals, like 2,4-D.
But that’s not the solution - that’s just staying on an ever faster treadmill of chemical and agribusiness dependence. Monsanto assured us that resistant weeds would never spring up from using Roundup Ready seeds. Why would 2,4-D seeds be a better solution?
Let’s put an end to this mad cycle: Sign the petition to tell our regulators we’ve had enough of herbicide-resistant seeds and short-sighted solutions.
