toxicity - pesticides, herbicides and insecticides - Blackherbals.com

Continued from page 17 – GE’s Dirty Little SecretOn this last point, a new study on GE crops out lastweek added yet more weight to the body of evidencecontradicting the GE crop industry’s long-standingmyth. Published Friday in the journal EnvironmentalSciences Europe, the Washington State University(WSU) study offers a simple but devastating finding:GE seeds dramatically increase pesticide use, and thatuse will grow unless we change the course of our foodand farming system.So here it is, the pesticide industry’s dirty little secret:GE seeds are no green solution to the world’s foodneeds, but are rather the growth engine of the world’sbiggest pesticide companies. In point of fact, the latestwave of GE crops is expected to drive a 25-fold increasein the use of one particularly nasty pesticide (2,4-D) incorn over the next seven years.Analyzing USDA data, the study—authored by WSUresearch professor Charles Benbrook, a former NationalAcademy of Sciences’ executive director—shows thatGE crops have driven up overall pesticide use across thecountry, with 400 million more pounds applied from1996 to 2011. Just last year, GE crops used 20 percentmore pesticides on average than non-GE crops. Theadoption of herbicide-resistant crop technology has beenthe primary driver, contributing to a 527 million poundincrease in herbicide use during the same period. Andthe increase in pesticide use is expected to continue, ifUSDA approves the next wave of GE herbicide-resistantcrops.The next cycle of the treadmill is especially frightening.2,4-D-resistant corn is the first in a new flood ofindustry products currently under consideration byUSDA. If the agency approves it and other 2,4-D crops,use of this hazardous pesticide in corn is expect to surge25-fold over the next seven years, putting farms, farmersand rural communities in harm’s way. The chemical hasbeen linked to birth defects, neurological damage andcancer, and children are especially susceptible to itseffects. For these reasons, 70 medical doctors and healthprofessionals joined Pesticide Action Network thissummer in urging EPA to reject Dow AgroScience’sapplication for new uses of 2,4-D.What now?Monsanto, Dow and other major pesticide companiesstand to benefit the most from the continued use ofglyphosate and surge in 2,4-D and other chemical salesthat will accompany the next round of herbicide-basedGE crops. So it should come as no surprise that thelargest opponents of California’s ‘Right to Know’ ballotinitiative to label GE foods are the pesticide companies,together spending nearly $20 million to blanket theairwaves with false and misleading ads about the initiative.I am heartened, however, by recent polls showingCalifornians resolute in their demand that GE food belabeled.Of even greater importance, perhaps, is the fact that peopleare asking serious questions about this technology, and itsplace in our food and farming systems. Finally we arehaving a genuine public conversation about geneticengineering, pesticides, our health, our rights and whoshould control what we eat and how we grow our food:corporations or communities. True, we should have had thisconversation sixteen years ago, before the first GE seedswere ushered to market by our public agencies, withoutadequate safety or efficacy testing. But here and now is stilla very good place to start.Additional resources for editors and reporters:• Summary of existing research on genetic engineering.• Additional information on 2,4-D corn and the othergenetically engineered crops in the pipeline.• Major findings and summary of new report fromWashington State Universityhttp://www.panna.org/blog/ge-dirty-little-secret☻☻☻☻☻☻Warning: Genetically Modified“Agent Orange Corn” Comingsoon to a Plate near YouBy Carolanne Wright14 July 2013Remember Agent Orange, the herbicide sprayed inVietnam linked with devastating birth defects, cancer andParkinson’s disease?Dow AgroSciences would like to feed this toxic chemicalto the American population via a new breed of geneticallymodified corn. If the corporation has its way, “AgentOrange corn” will arrive on dinner plates across the U.S. asearly as 2014.Poisonous history of Agent OrangeDa Thi Kieu experienced the deadly effects of AgentOrange first hand. During the Vietnam War, the U.S.military sprayed her fields with the herbicide. Likewise, herhusband was exposed when he fought in the army and diedan early death due to cancers associated with the toxin. Oftheir eight children, seven were born with birth defects andonly two survived.Continued on page 2718-- Traditional African Clinic July 2013