Don’t Permit Herbicide-Resistant Corn Strain That Will Harm the Environment and Human Health

Environment, Petitions — By Callie Brazil on February 5, 2012 1:53 pm

Target: Environmental Protection Agency and United States Department of Agriculture

Goal: Stop the authorization of a new genetically engineered corn strain, created and promoted by large agri-business corporations, from flooding the U.S. market.

In December 2011, the USDA authorized the Monsanto-created “drought-tolerant” corn. Now, the USDA is preparing to approve another product, created by Monsanto’s “rival,” Dow AgroSciences. Dow has engineered a strain of corn that can withstand Monsanto’s herbicide, Roundup, and Dow’s own powerful herbicide known as 2,4-D.

A Mother Jones report explains how the herbicide-resistant corn will be “stacked” with both Roundup traits and 2,4-D traits in order to “generate commercial hybrids with multiple herbicide tolerances,” as Dow’s product petition to the USDA states.

So far, the USDA has authorized Dow’s petition and recommends that the corn strain be left unregulated, which will generate environmental and health consequences for Americans.

The same Mother Jones article reports how studies released by Penn State University crop specialist and scientist David A. Mortensen effectively argue how this herbicide-resistant corn will lead to an even greater dependence on chemicals in agriculture. This combination of herbicides would most likely lead to weeds that are resistant to both Roundup and 2,4-D. In effect, the most likely response to the development of superweeds would then be to apply increasingly higher doses of herbicides in order to sufficiently kill them. Another main environmental concern is known as pesticide drift, where the potent, airborne 2,4-D herbicide would be carried through the air, damaging neighboring non-target plants in the process.

The EPA concluded 2,4-D has a low toxicity or danger for humans or animals. However, studies by groups such as Beyond Pesticides have discovered otherwise. These studies link 2,4-D to non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma and other cancers. There is also evidence pointing to the herbicide being an endocrine disruptor, disturbing hormonal cycles and normal hormone levels for humans. In fact, in 2004, a collective effort by more than a dozen different environmental and social awareness groups, including the Natural Resources Defense Council and Pesticide Action Network, wrote a letter to the EPA denouncing the agency’s underestimation of potential health risks.

It is worth noting that Monsanto and Dow, which both market themselves as rivals and competitors in the same industry, plan to license their respective herbicide rights to the other, in order to separately produce and sell these “stacked” hybrids.

Please sign below to tell the EPA and USDA that leaving this new strain of corn left unchecked will have severe environmental and health consequences. Monsanto and Dow cannot continue to prosper from the sacrificing of human and environmental wellbeing.

PETITION LETTER:

Dear Environmental Protection Agency and U.S. Department of Agriculture,

Dow AgroSciences is proposing a new strain of corn that will be resistant to herbicides. This new herbicide-resistant corn is poised to be approved by the United States Department of Agriculture, but under false pretenses.

Numerous studies, specifically those conducted at Penn State University, indicate that the herbicide traits in this corn have adverse health effects that are not being taken seriously enough. These studies, and other similar ones, show that the 2,4-D herbicide has serious carcinogenic potential, specifically, non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. Furthermore, the herbicide is known to be an endocrine disruptor, causing hormonal imbalances in humans.

In addition to these health concerns, it is a foreseeable probability that this herbicide-resistant corn will lead to further dependence on pesticides and chemicals in the agricultural sector. New weed varieties immune to the herbicides will require increasing doses of chemicals in order to control them.

There is no scenario under which allowing this herbicide-resistant corn unregulated in our country will yield positive results to the public. The USDA has recommended this corn strain be left unchecked, which will have potentially disastrous environmental and health effects. Please reflect on the potential risks and reconsider authorizing this corn strain.

Sincerely,

[Your Name Here]

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Photo credit: Hillary/Cammy via Flickr