Almost a decade after genetically modified crops were first approved for widespread planting in Canada, the government is trying to find out if those crops are harming the soil in which they grow, says the Canadian Food Inspection Agency.
An Environment Canada study on the effects of Bt toxin on the soil began in March 2001, the agency said in a document published in response to an environmental petition filed by Greenpeace Canada.
A study on the source of the toxin Bt in the environment started in 2000 and should be completed by March 2006.
Read Also
Powdery mildew can be combine fire risk
Dust from powdery mildew can cause fires in combines.
The agency said the research results are preliminary but encouraging.
“The scientific community suggests that the results of these studies do not warrant the need for any policy changes,” said the CFIA response. “In fact, scientists suggest that there are no extreme environmental consequences of the biotechnology-derived crops they are testing.”
But instead of satisfying Greenpeace, a campaigner for the anti-GMO organization said the government response proves its point that Canadians have been guinea pigs in the use of GM crops.
“GMOs have been grown for years and now the government is conceding that they were approved without solid evidence about their impact,” said Greenpeace official Pat Venditti. “I think this really makes our point that the government has not done its homework on this.”
The government agency reported that preliminary results from the Environment Canada study showed the presence of GM crops did not appear to diminish the presence of microbes in the surrounding soil.
The issue of the voluntary spread of GM crops also was raised by Greenpeace in the environmental petition submitted in the summer and CFIA said it happens, but not enough to be a concern.
It said the University of Saskatchewan and the National Research Council concluded there is “a very low incidence of cross-pollination in transgenic pea plants.”
A study by the university in co-operation with the Canadian Seed Growers Association also found that cross-pollination in wheat has a range of 0.1-5.6 percent.
As well, a “large-scale gene flow experiment in spring wheat” was started last year and will be done in 2006.
Venditti said CFIA dismissal of low rates of cross-pollination would be “cold comfort” to organic farmers or others trying to guarantee purity from GM contamination.
“Again, I think it makes our point that once GM crops are introduced, there is no way to control their spread or to guarantee there will not be contamination of nearby fields.”
In response to Greenpeace citing several studies that reported the presence of GM crops containing the Bt gene damaged local earthworms, the CFIA said insecticides containing Bt have been used for decades without evidence of damage to surrounding soil creatures.
“Scientific knowledge is based on a body of work, not just one or two studies,” said the agency, which insisted there is nothing to fear in Canada’s regulation of biotechnology products.
“Canada has one of the safest, most effective regulatory systems for biotechnology products in the world.”
