GEO Watch | Letter from America to UK and EU
Moderator’s
Note: A group of individuals and organizations representing more than 56 million U.S. citizens and residents have signed a “Letter from
America” addressed to the citizens, elected officials, and
regulators of the UK and the rest of the EU about the ecological and health hazards
and social and economic threats posed by genetically modified crops. The letter
is a timely document because politicians and regulators in the UK and the rest
of Europe are currently deciding on the future of policies and laws affecting
the regulation of GMOs. European countries have banned commercial plantings of
GMOs for decades but the pressure from biotechnology lobbyists and trade
negotiations like the TAFTA (Transatlantic Free Trade Agreement) and TTIP (Transatlantic
Trade and Investment Partnership), have reopened the policy and
legal debate around the importation and sale of GMO crops.
The organizers of the Letter from
America define the non-GMO struggle as “an urgent international issue” and
express the “need to work together – and quickly – to protect our global food
system and ourselves.” The Letter from America, signed by groups and
individuals representing nearly 57 million US citizens, gives us a glimpse into
out for future should we choose to embrace GM crops. The copiously referenced
letter outlines the vast range of environmental, political, and economic problems
and challenges that American farmers, consumers and others have faced over the
nearly two decades since the first commercialized genetically engineered crops
were planted in the USA (ca. 1996).
Among the problems highlighted in
the letter:
· Lower yields
than equivalent non-GM crops
· Higher
chemical inputs and seed prices that are 3-6 times higher than conventional
seed, leading to lower profits for farmers
· The risk of
cross pollination and contamination of non-GM fields and the loss of export and
organic markets due to high levels of contamination
· Increased
pesticide use; research suggests that farmers who planted Roundup Ready crops
use 24% more herbicide than non-GMO farmers planting the same crops
· Superweeds
and superbugs that are resistant to either Roundup or the toxin produced by Bt
plants
· Destruction
of the natural environment including threats to beneficial insects such as bees
and butterflies and harm to important soil organisms
· Studies showing
numerous threats to health from eating GM foods and their associated
pesticides.
· Lack of
scientific consensus on the safety of GMOs
· Increasing
corporate control over the food supply
The Letter from America initiative
is part of “a larger campaign to reignite grassroots interest and involvement
in the issue of GMOs”. For more information and to sign the letter, please
visit the website, www.theletterfromamerica.org.
Living with GMOs
A LETTER FROM AMERICA
An open letter to the citizens,
politicians, and regulators of the UK and the rest of the EU about the hazards
of genetically modified crops
We are writing as concerned American
citizens to share with you our experience of genetically modified (GM) crops
and the resulting damage to our agricultural system and adulteration of our
food supply.
In our country, GM crops account for about
half of harvested cropland. Around 94% of the soy, 93% of corn (maize) and 96%
of cotton grown is GM.[1]
The UK and the rest of the EU have
yet to adopt GM crops in the way that we have, but you are currently under tremendous
pressure from governments, biotech lobbyists, and large corporations to adopt
what we now regard as a failing agricultural technology.
Polls consistently show that 72% of Americans do not want to eat GM
foods and over 90% of Americans believe GM foods should be labeled.[2]
In spite of this massive public mandate, efforts to get our federal [3]
and state[4] governments to better regulate, or simply
label, GMOs are being undermined by large biotech and food corporations with
unlimited budgets[5]
and undue influence.
As you consider your options, we’d
like to share with you what nearly two decades of GM crops in the United States
has brought us. We believe our experience serves as a warning for what will
happen in your countries should you follow us down this road.
Broken
promises
GM crops were released onto the
market with a promise that they would consistently increase yields and decrease
pesticide use. They have done neither.[6]
In fact, according to a recent US government report yields from GM crops can be
lower than their non-GM equivalents.[7]
Farmers were told that GM crops
would yield bigger profits too. The reality, according to the United States
Department of Agriculture, is different.[8]
Profitability is highly variable, while the cost of growing these crops has spiraled.[9]
GM seeds cannot legally be saved for replanting, which means farmers must buy
new seeds each year. Biotech companies
control the price of seeds, which cost farmers 3-6 times more than conventional seeds.[10] This, combined
with the huge chemical inputs they require, means GM crops have proved more
costly to grow than conventional crops.
Because of the disproportionate emphasis on GM crops, conventional seed
varieties are no longer widely available leaving farmers with less choice and
control over what they plant.[11]
Farmers who have chosen not to grow
GM crops can find their fields contaminated with GM crops as a result of cross
pollination between related species of plants[12]
and GM and non-GM seeds being mixed together during storage.
Because of this our
farmers are losing export markets. Many
countries have restrictions or outright bans on growing or importing GM crops[13]
and as a result, these crops have become responsible for a rise in trade
disputes when shipments of grain are found to be contaminated with GM organisms
(GMOs). [14]
The burgeoning organic market here
in the US is also being affected. Many organic farmers have lost contracts for
organic seed due to high levels of contamination. This problem is increasing
and is expected to get much bigger in the coming years.
Pesticides
and superweeds
The most widely grown types of GM
crops are known as “Roundup Ready” crops. These crops, mostly corn and soy,
have been genetically engineered so that when they are sprayed with the
herbicide Roundupâ – the
active ingredient of which is glyphosate – the weeds die but the crop continues
to grow.
This has created a vicious circle.
Weeds have become resistant to the herbicide, causing farmers to spray even
more. Heavier use of herbicides creates ever more “superweeds” and even higher
herbicide use. A recent review found
that between 1996 and 2011, farmers who planted Roundup Ready crops used 24%
more herbicide than non-GMO farmers planting the same crops.[15]
If we remain on this trajectory with
Roundup Ready crops we can expect to see herbicide rates increase by 25% each
year for the foreseeable future.
This pesticide treadmill means that
in the last decade in the US at least 14 new glyphosate-resistant weed species
have emerged,[16]
and over half of US farms are plagued with herbicide-resistant weeds.[17]
Biotech companies, which sell both
the GM seeds and the herbicides,[18]
have proposed to address this problem with the creation of new crop varieties
that will be able to withstand even stronger and more toxic herbicides such as
2,4-D and dicamba. However it is estimated that if these new varieties are
approved, this could drive herbicide use up by as much as 50%.[19]
 |
| Artwork courtesy of Chongolio |
Environmental
harm
Studies have shown that the increased herbicide
use on Roundup Ready crops is highly destructive to the natural environment. For example, Roundup kills milkweeds, which are
the key food source for the iconic Monarch butterfly[20]
and poses a threat to other important insects such as bees.[21] It is also damaging to soil, killing
beneficial organisms that keep it healthy and productive[22]
and making essential micronutrients unavailable to the plant.[23]
Without healthy soil, we cannot grow healthy
plants.
Other types of GM plants, which have been engineered
to produce their own insecticide (e.g. “Bt” cotton plants), have also been
shown to harm beneficial insects including green lacewings[24],
the Daphnia magna waterflea[25]
and other aquatic insects,[26]
and ladybugs (ladybirds).[27]
Resistance to the insecticides in these
plants is also growing[28],
creating new varieties of resistant “superbugs” and requiring more applications
of insecticides at different points in the growth cycle, for instance on the
seed before it is planted.[29]
In spite of this, new Bt varieties of corn and soy have been approved here and
will soon be planted.
A
threat to human health
GM ingredients are everywhere in our food
chain. It is
estimated that 70% of processed foods consumed in the US have been produced
using GM ingredients. If products from animals fed GM feed are included, the percentage
is significantly higher.
Research shows that Roundup Ready crops contain
many times more glyphosate, and its toxic breakdown product AMPA, than normal
crops.[30]
Traces of glyphosate have been found
in the breastmilk and urine of American mothers, as well as in their drinking
water.[31]
The levels
in breastmilk were worryingly high – around 1,600 times higher than what is
allowable in European drinking water. Passed on to babies through breastmilk,
or the water used to make formula, this could represent an unacceptable risk to
infant health since glyphosate is a suspected hormone disrupter.[32] Recent
studies suggest that this herbicide is also toxic to sperm.[33]
Likewise, traces of the Bt toxin have
been found in the blood of mothers and their babies.[34]
GM foods were not subjected to human
trials before being released into the food chain and the health impacts of
having these substances circulating and accumulating in our bodies are not being
studied by any government agency, nor by the companies that produce them.
Studies of animals fed GM foods
and/or glyphosate, however, show worrying trends including damage to vital
organs like the liver and kidneys, damage to gut tissues and gut flora, immune
system disruption, reproductive abnormalities, and even tumors.[35]
These scientific
studies point to potentially serious human health problems that could not have
been anticipated when our country first embraced GMOs, and yet they continue to
be ignored by those who should be protecting us. Instead our regulators rely on outdated
studies and other information funded and supplied by biotech companies that,
not surprisingly, dismiss all health concerns.
A
denial of science
This spin of corporate science stands
in stark contrast to the findings of independent scientists. In fact, in 2013, nearly 300 independent scientists
from around the world issued a public warning that there was no scientific consensus about the safety of eating
genetically modified food, and that the risks, as demonstrated in independent
research, gave “serious cause for concern.”[36]
It’s not easy for independent
scientists like these to speak out. Those who do have faced obstacles in
publishing their results, been systematically vilified by pro-GMO scientists,
been denied research funding, and in some cases have had their jobs and careers
threatened.[37]
Control
of the food supply
Through our experience we have come to understand that the genetic
engineering of food has never really been about public good, or feeding the
hungry, or supporting our farmers. Nor is it about consumer choice. Instead it
is about private, corporate control of the food system.
This control extends into areas of life that deeply
affect our day-to-day well-being, including food security, science, and
democracy. It undermines the development of genuinely sustainable, environmentally
friendly agriculture and prevents the creation of a transparent, healthy food
supply for all.
Today in the US, from seed to plate, the
production,
distribution, marketing, safety testing, and consumption of food is controlled
by a handful of companies, many of which have commercial interests in genetic
engineering technology. They create the problems, and then sell us the so-called
solutions in a closed
cycle of profit generation that is unequalled in any other type of commerce.
We all need to eat, which is why
every citizen should strive to understand these issues.
Time
to speak out
Americans are reaping the
detrimental impacts of this risky and unproven agricultural technology. EU countries should take note: there are no
benefits from GM crops great enough to offset these impacts. Officials who
continue to ignore this fact are guilty of a gross dereliction of duty.
We, the undersigned, are sharing our
experience and what we have learned with you so that you don’t make our
mistakes.
We strongly urge you to resist the
approval of genetically modified crops, to refuse to plant those crops that have
been approved, to reject the import and/or sale of GM-containing animal feeds
and foods intended for human consumption, and to speak out against the
corporate influence over politics, regulation and science.
If the UK and the rest of Europe
becomes the new market for genetically modified crops and food our own efforts
to label and regulate GMOs will be all the more difficult, if not impossible.
If our efforts fail, your attempts to keep GMOs out of Europe will also fail.
If we work together, however, we can
revitalize our global food system, ensuring healthy soil, healthy fields,
healthy food and healthy people.
Signed
by
· Susan Sarandon
· Daryl Hannah
· Robert Kennedy Jr
· Frances Fisher
· Ed Begley Jr
· Amy Smart
· Tommy Hilfiger
· Vani Hari (Food Babe)
· Adam Gardner
· Raj Patel
· Wendell Berry
· Alain Braux
· Rachel Parent
· Daniel Bissonnette
· Alicia Serratos
· Alice Waters
· Paul Hawken
· Anna Lappe
· Philip L. Bereano
· Howard Vlieger
· Devon G. Peña, PhD
· Ken Roseboro
· Bob Streit, CPCS, CCA
· Peter Defur PhD
· Robyn O’Brien
· Evaggelos Vallianatos
· Chensheng (Alex) Lu, PhD
· Miguel Robles
· Temra Costa
· Will Allen
· Dr Joseph Mercola
· Dr Michelle Perro
· Carole Bartolotto, MA, RD
· Dr Margaret Flowers
· Dr Andrew Weil
· Sayer Ji
· Sally Fallon
· Melissa Diane Smith
· Mamavation/ ShiftCon
· Allergy Kids Foundation
· Mom’s Voices
· Friends of the Earth US
· Waterkeeper Alliance
· Organic Consumers
Association
· Sierra Club
· Food & Water Watch
· FarmAid
· Pesticide Action Network
North America (PANNA)
· Rachel Carson Council
· Food Democracy Now
· Cornucopia Institute
· Weston A Price Foundation
· Move on
· Farm & Ranch Freedom
Alliance
· Council for Responsible
Genetics
· Farm to Consumer Legal
Defense Fund
· Biosafety Alliance
· Institute for Agriculture
and Trade Policy (IATP)
· Green America
· Institute for Social
Ecology
· Citizen’s Trade Campaign
· Popular Resistance/Flush
the TTP
· The Berry Center
· Organic Seed Growers and
Trade Association
· etc group
· Demeter USA
· Slow Food USA
· Rodale Institute
· Organic Seed Alliance
· Institute for Responsible
Technology
· Corporate Accountability
International
· Healthcare Without Harm
· National Black Farmers
Association
· Ecological Farming
Association
· Food Chain Workers
Alliance
· CT NOFA
· The Acequia Institute
(TAI)
· Environmental Stewardship
Concepts
· Earth Open Source
· Farm Food Freedom Coalition
· Our Family Farms
Coalition (OFFC)
· American Academy of
Environmental Medicine
· Alliance for Natural
Health US (ANH-USA)
· Healthy Child, Healthy
World
· Physicians for Social
Responsibility
· Care2
· Label GMOs
· GMO Free USA
· GMO Inside
· Teens Turning Green
· Kids right to know
· GMO Free Maryland
· NH Right to Know GMO
· Citizens for GMO
Labelling
· GMO Free CT
· GMO Free PA
· California Certified
Organic Farmers
· GMO Free New Jersey
· ConnFACT
· Oregonians for Safe Farms
and Families
· GMO Free Canada
· Moms Across America
· Moms Advocating
Sustainability
· Californians for
Pesticide Reform
· Babes Against Biotech
· Green Lifestyle TV
· GMO Free Planet
· GMO Free DC
· Wood Prairie Farm
· GMO Free Florida
· California State Grange
· Living Seed Company
· Seed Library of Los
Angeles
· Sweetly Seeds/Taos Seed Exchange
· NOFA NY
· NOFA MA
· Hawai’i Seed
· GMO Free Arizona
· Heirloom Seed Exposition
· GMO Free Nevada
· NOFA New Hampshire
· GMO Action Alliance
· NoGMO4Michigan
· Nature’s Path
· Jimbo’s…Naturally!
· Nutiva
· Dr. Bronner’s Magic Soaps
· Annmarie Gianni Cosmetics
· NYR Organic
· Good Earth Natural Foods
ENDNOTES
[1] Adoption of Genetically
Engineered Crops in the US 1996-2014 - Recent Trends in GE Adoption, United
States Department of Agriculture (USDA), July 2014, http://www.ers.usda.gov/data-products/adoption-of-genetically-engineered-crops-in-the-us/recent-trends-in-ge-adoption.aspx#.U9aA4fldUz0
[2]Consumer Support
for Standardization and Labeling of Genetically Engineered Food 2014 Nationally‐Representative Phone
Survey, Consumer Reports® National Research Center Survey Research Report,
https://consumersunion.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/2014_GMO_survey_report.pdf ; see also Brinkerhoff N, Americans
overwhelmingly want GMO labelling...until big companies pour money into
election campaigns, AllGov News, January 7, 2014 http://www.allgov.com/news/where-is-the-money-going/americans-overwhelmingly-want-gmo-labelinguntil-big-companies-pour-money-in-election-campaigns-140107?news=852102
[3] GE Food Labelling:
States Take Action, Fact Sheet, Center for Food Safety, June 2014, http://www.centerforfoodsafety.org/files/ge-state-labeling-fact-sheet-620141_28179.pdf
[5] Jargon J and Berry I, Dough
Rolls Out to Fight 'Engineered' Label on Food, Wall Street journal, October 25,
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[6] Benbrook C. Evidence of
the magnitude and consequences of the Roundup Ready soybean yield drag from
university-based varietal trials in 1998: Ag BioTech InfoNet Technical Paper
Number 1. Sandpoint, Idaho; 1999, http://www.mindfully.org/GE/RRS-Yield-Drag.htm; see also Elmore RW,
Roeth FW, Nelson LA, et al. Glyphosate-resistant soyabean cultivar yields
compared with sister lines. Agron J, 2001;93:408-412; see also Ma BL, Subedi
KD. Development, yield, grain moisture and nitrogen uptake of Bt corn hybrids
and their conventional near-isolines. Field Crops Res. 2005; 93: 199-211; see
also Bennett H. GM canola trials come a cropper. WA Business News. http://www.wabusinessnews.com.au/en-story/1/69680/GM-canola-trials-come-a-cropper January 16, 2009; see
also Gurian-Sherman D. Failure to yield: Evaluating the performance of
genetically engineered crops. Cambridge, MA: Union of Concerned Scientists;
2009. Available at: http://www.ucsusa.org/assets/documents/food_and_agriculture/failure-to-yield.pdf
[7] Genetically Engineered
Crops in the United States, USDA, Economic Research Services, February 2014 http://www.ers.usda.gov/publications/err-economic-research-report/err162.aspx#.U7vzi7Hrzbx
[8] Fernandez-Cornejo J,
Wechsler S, Livingston M, Mitchell L. Genetically engineered crops in the
United States. Washington, DC: US Department of Agriculture; 2014. Available
at: http://www.ers.usda.gov/publications/err-economic-research-report/err162.aspx#.U0P_qMfc26x
[9] Fernandez-Cornejo
J, McBride WD. The adoption of bioengineered crops. Agricultural Economic Report
No. 810. Washington, DC: US Department of Agriculture; 2002, http://www.ers.usda.gov/publications/aer810/aer810.pdf; see also
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genetically engineered crops on pesticide use in the United States: The first
thirteen years. Washington, DC: The Organic Center; 2009. Available at: http://www.organic-center.org/reportfiles/13Years20091126_FullReport.pdf; see also Howard P.
Visualizing consolidation in the global seed industry: 1996–2008.
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draws US scrutiny, New York Times, March 11, 2010, http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/12/business/12seed.html?_r=1.
[10] Benbrook CM. The
magnitude and impacts of the biotech and organic seed price premium.
Washington, DC: The Organic Center; 2009. Available at: http://www.organic-center.org/reportfiles/Seeds_Final_11-30-09.pdf
[11] Roseboro K, The GMO Seed
Monopoly: Reducing Farmer's Seed Options, Organic Connections, 16 April 2013 http://organicconnectmag.com/wp/the-gmo-seed-monopoly-reducing-farmers-seed-options/#.UW6i4LVllfY
[12] D’Hertefeldt
T, Jørgensen RB, Pettersson LB. Long-term persistence of GM oilseed rape in the
seedbank. Biol Lett. 2008;4:314–317; see also Gilbert N. GM crop escapes into
the American wild. Nature. 2010. Available at:
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[13] The Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety to the
Convention on Biological Diversity. http://bch.cbd.int/protocol/default.shtml;
see also GMO-Free Europe, http://www.gmo-free-regions.org
[14] Technical consultation
on low levels of genetically modified (GM) crops in international food and feed
trade, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Rome, Italy
March 21-22, 2014, http://www.fao.org/fileadmin/user_upload/agns/topics/LLP/AGD803_4_Final_En.pdf
[15] Benbrook CM, Impacts of
genetically engineered crops on pesticide use in the US - the first sixteen
years, Environmental Sciences Europe, 2012; 24:
24 doi:10.1186/2190-4715-24-24
[17] The Rise of Superweeds –
and What to Do About It, Union of Concerned Scientists, Policy Brief, December
2013, http://www.ucsusa.org/assets/documents/food_and_agriculture/rise-of-superweeds.pdf
[18] Superweeds – How biotech
crops bolster the pesticide industry, Food & Water Watch, July 2013 http://documents.foodandwaterwatch.org/doc/Superweeds.pdf#_ga=1.262673807.2090293938.1404747885
[20] Brower LP, Decline of monarch butterflies overwintering in Mexico: is the
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[21] Garcia,
MA and Altieri M, Transgenic Crops: Implications for Biodiversity and
Sustainable Agriculture. Bulletin of
Science, Technology & Society, 2005; 25(4) 335-53 DOI:
10.1177/0270467605277293; see also Haughton, A J et al
Invertebrate responses to the management of genetically modified
herbicidetolerant
and conventional spring crops.
II.Within-field epigeal and aerial arthropods. Philosophical Transactions of
the Royal Society of London B, 2003; 358: 1863-77; see also Roy, DB et al
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[22] Glyphosate herbicide
affects belowground interactions between earthworms and symbiotic mycorrhizal
fungi in a model ecosystem. Nature Scientific Reports, July 9, 2014, 4: 5634, DOI: doi:10.1038/srep05634; Citizens
Concerned About GM, Suffocating the soil: An “unanticipated effect” of GM
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[23] Tapesser B et al,
Agronomic and environmental aspects of the cultivation of genetically modified
herbicide-resistant plants A joint paper of BfN (Germany), FOEN (Switzerland)
and EAA (Austria), Bonn, Germany 2014, http://www.bfn.de/fileadmin/MDB/documents/service/skript362.pdf.
[26] Rossi-Marshall EJ et al,
Toxins in transgenic crop byproducts may affect headwater stream ecosystems,
PNAS, 2007, 104(41): 16204–16208, http://www.pnas.org/content/104/41/16204.abstract
[27] Tapesser B et al, 2014 op cit; see also Schmidt JEU, Braun CU, Whitehouse LP, Hilbeck A:
Effects of activated Bt transgene products (Cry1Ab, Cry3Bb) on immature stages
of the ladybird Adalia bipunctata in laboratory ecotoxicity testing, Arch
Environ Contam Toxicol 2009, 56:221-228, http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs00244-008-9191-9.
[28] Gassmann AJ et al, Field-evolved resistance by western corn rootworm
to multiple Bacillus thuringiensis toxins in transgenic maize, Proc Natl
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111(14): 5141-46, http://www.pnas.org/content/111/14/5141;
see also Letter from 22
Members and Participants of North Central
Coordinating Committee NCCC46 and Other Corn
Entomologists to US EPA, March 5, 2012, http://www.biosicherheit.de/pdf/aktuell/12-03_comment_porter_epa.pdf
; see also Huang F et al, Resistance
of sugarcane borer to Bacillus thuringiensis Cry1Ab toxin, Entomol Exp Appl,
2007; 124: 117-23, http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1570-7458.2007.00560.x/abstract;jsessionid=77E6295826AFA053813D7CFD5A1C15DB.f01t01?deniedAccessCustomisedMessage=&userIsAuthenticated=false ; see also Tabashnik BE,
et al, Insect resistance to Bt crops: Evidence versus theory, Nat Biotechnol,
2008; 26: 199–202, http://www.cof.orst.edu/cof/teach/agbiotox/Readings%202008/TabashnikBtResistInsects-NatBiotech-2008.pdf.
[29] Leslie TW, Biddinger DJ,
Mullin CA, Fleischer SJ. Carabidae population dynamics and temporal
partitioning: Response to coupled neonicotinoid-transgenic technologies in
maize, Env Entomol, 2009; 38: 935-43; see also Gurian-Sherman D. Genetically
engineered crops in the real world – Bt corn, insecticide use, and honey bees.
The Cornucopia Institute, January 13, 2012. http://www.cornucopia.org/2012/01/genetically-engineered-crops-in-the-real-world-bt-corn-insecticide-use-and-honey-bees
[30] Bohn T et al,
Compositional differences in soybeans on the market: Glyphosate accumulates in
Roundup Ready GM soybeans, Food Chemistry, 2014 ; 153: 207-15;
[31] Glyphosate testing
report: Findings in American mothers’ breast milk, urine and water. Mom’s
Across America, April 7, 2014, http://d3n8a8pro7vhmx.cloudfront.net/yesmaam/pages/774/attachments/original/1396803706/Glyphosate__Final__in_the_breast_milk_of_American_women_Draft6_.pdf?1396803706
[32] Gasnier C, et al,
Glyphosate-based herbicides are toxic and endocrine disruptors in human cell
lines, Toxicology, 2009; 262: 184-91. doi:10.1016/j.tox.2009.06.006; see also
Hokanson R, et al, Alteration of estrogen-regulated gene expression in human
cells induced by the agricultural and horticultural herbicide glyphosate, Hum
Exp Toxicol, 2007; 26: 747-52. doi:10.1177/0960327107083453; see also
Thongprakaisang S, et al, Glyphosate induces human breast cancer cells growth
via estrogen receptors, Food Chem Toxicol, 2013; 59: 129–136. doi:10.1016/j.fct.2013.05.057.
[33] Cassault-Meyer E et al,
An acute exposure to glyphosate-based herbicide alters aromatase levels in testis
and sperm nuclear quality, Environmental Toxicology and Pharmacology, 2014;
38(1): 131–40.
[34] Aris A and Leblanc S,
Maternal and fetal exposure to pesticides associated to genetically modified
foods in Eastern Townships of Quebec, Canada, Reproductive Toxicology, 2011; 31(4): 528–533.
[35] Fagan F et al, Chapter 3
- Health Hazards of GM Foods and Chapter
4 - Health Hazards of Roundup and glyphosate, in GMO Myths & Truths: An
evidence-based examination of the claims made for the safety and efficacy of
genetically modified crops and foods, Earth Open Source, 2nd Ed,
2014
[36] Statement: No scientific
consensus on GMO safety, European
Network of Scientists for Social and Environmental Responsibility, October 21,
2013, http://www.ensser.org/increasing-public-information/no-scientific-consensus-on-gmo-safety.
[37] Smith, J, GMO
Researchers Attacked, Evidence Denied, and a Population at Risk, Global
Research, September 19, 2012 http://www.globalresearch.ca/gmo-researchers-attacked-evidence-denied-and-a-population-at-risk/5305324; see also Waltz E, GM
crops: Battlefield, Nature, 2009; 461, 27-32
doi:10.1038/461027a; see also Woodward L, Muzzled by Monsanto, Citizens
Concerned About GM, May 4, 2014, http://www.gmeducation.org/blog/p217611-muzzled-by-monsanto.html
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