February 4, 1994
A report published by The Union of Concerned Scientists
(UCS) in December 1993 calls for a temporary ban on the
commercialization of genetically engineered crops because of
potentially serious environmental risks both in the U.S. and
around the world. "Perils Amidst the Promise: Ecological
Risks of Transgenic Crops in a Global Market" focuses on
three major risks: the propagation of weeds that are not only
bothersome but also costly to control; the potential spread
of viruses; and the contamination of centers of genetic
diversity, located primarily in developing countries, that
could jeopardize future efforts to develop new varieties of
food crops.
Given these and other potential environmental hazards,
UCS urges the U.S. government to develop a protective
regulatory program to minimize risks, and to suspend approval
of transgenic crops for commercialization until this program
is in place.
Report authors Jane Rissler and Margaret Mellon give
special attention to international ramifications of the
burgeoning interest in transgenes and transgenic plants,
pointing out that developing countries are more vulnerable to
the environmental and health risks of this new technology.
(A transgene is a gene from a dissimilar organism, or an
artificially constructed gene added by methods of molecular
biology to another organism.) With the diffusion of
transgenic plants, developing countries are likely to suffer
many of the same drawbacks experienced during the Green
Revolution (including problems of inappropriate technology,
non-sustainable agricultural practices, high costs of inputs,
contamination of water and soil, and unsafe human exposure to
toxic chemicals). At the same time, multinational companies
are poised to gain huge benefits from engineering plants that
will perpetuate demand for their pesticides: 57% of the field
trials of transgenics are for herbicide resistant crops. For
example, a new strand of cotton has been engineered to
tolerate bromoxynil, a herbicide manufactured by Rhone-
Poulenc, which has been classified as a developmental
toxicant for humans and is not currently registered for use
on cotton in the U.S.
Developing countries may also suffer disproportionately
from the use of transgenic plants in other ways. Several
major potential problems relate to the cross-pollination of
transgenic plants with other plants. Complications from this
process include the likelihood that transgenic plants
themselves will become weeds, that transgenic plants will
cause local native plants to become weeds, and as more plants
are designed to survive certain viruses, new viruses will be
created that farmers and local peoples will have difficulty
controlling. According to the report, there is a greater
probability of these problems affecting developing countries
because industrialized countries are better able to limit the
exposure of transgenic plants to other plants due to
relatively advanced monitoring and control systems. In
addition, as centers of the world's biodiveristy, developing
countries have more to lose. By putting biodiversity at
risk, developing countries may lose the chance to exploit as
yet undiscovered plants that could be put to use as dynamic
new food crops in the future.
The report also questions the frequently repeated
assertion that export of bioengineered crops will actually
serve to boost food production in developing countries.
Rissler and Mellon point out that most research is being
conducted on plants that are not major food providers in
food-deficit countries.
The report recommends that the U.S. government take
several actions to address these and related problems
including: undertaking a thorough risk assessment of
transgenic plants before commercialization, based on
weediness potential, gene flow, viruses, and special
attention to effects on the centers of biodiversity. The
authors also suggest that a transgenic plant meant for export
should be required to gain a seal of approval indicating that
it will not pose a threat to biodiversity in other countries.
They further urge that the appropriate United Nations bodies
develop biosafety protocols to do the same. Finally, because
pesticide- and pharmaceutical-producing plants may introduce
toxic substances into the environment, the authors recommend
that transgenic plants be assigned an ecotoxicity level by
the U.S. government.
Source: Jane Rissler and Margaret Mellon, "Perils Amidst the
Promise: Ecological Risks of Transgenic Crops in a Global
Market," Union of Concerned Scientists, December 1993.
Contact: Eileen Quinn, Margaret Mellon, Jane Rissler at the
Union of Concerned Scientists, Washington, D.C. 20036, USA;
phone (202) 332-0900; fax (202) 332-0905.
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