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Why the fear of GM Crops?
Jim Webster wrote: wrote in message .... In conventional seed production there is variety. Genes that dictate the use of one chemical (a chemical that by the way is not friendly to certain organisms of the soil, and a chemical that stays for very long in the soil clay structure and a chemical that is difficult to analyze and detect). Conventional crops require different practices (chemical or mechanical) to maintain a reduced pest and weed populations. The use of that one chemical implies a series of cultural practices that affect the soil fauna and flora. Multiple pesticides implies that at least some area is not affected by unintended chemical effects. total gibberish. Multiple pesticide use will hit a far wider variety of pests Maybe. But pesticide residue and decomposition, metabolite life and their toxicity for living organisms other than mammals is scarce or non existent. And even mamalian studies do not cover endocrine disruptor effects, or many of the metabolites produced under different soil environments. I rather have a little of a bunch of chemicals than a lot of one (as a general rule). Of course some chemicals are worse at some low level than some other chemical at a higher level. I know, it all sounds gibberish. But try. Atrazine for example has trouble being degrated: http://www.engg.ksu.edu/HSRC/formation.html Similar studies for Roundup are rare, non existant or only for the eyes of company executives. I also suggest you read more gibberish: http://216.239.39.100/search?q=cache...t-science.org/ pwq_ip.htm+atrazine+accumulation+%22ground+water%2 2&hl=en&ie=UTF-8 (cut and paste in one line for URL) .... Fourteen pesticides and metabolites were found and the percentage of contaminated wells, when extrapolated to the country as a whole, indicated that between 0 and 750 community systems (0-0.8%) and between 9,000 and 200,000 rural household wells (0.1-1.9%) will have at least one pesticide above a human-health-based drinking water standard, such as the maximum contaminant level (MCL) set by the EPA. As many as 14% of all wells may have detectable residues, generally in the range 0.1 to 0.2 part per billion (one millionth of a gram per liter of water; ppb for short) of some pesticide .... Many pesticides accumulate in the soil. Specially roundup that needs light for degradation. The repeated application of many other herbicides has resulted in ground water contamination. Some midwestern states have for example such elevated concentrations of atrazine and its metabolites that you have to be carefull using ground water to drink or even to irrigate other crops. .... The EPA also has data from numerous other ground water studies conducted from 1971-1991. In this database, of a total of 65,865 wells sampled, 14.4% or 9,509 had concentrations of one or more pesticides in excess of health standards. This high percentage is a reflection of sampling bias--many of the wells sampled were selected because they were located in areas where pesticide leaching was known to be occurring. More recently, the U.S. Geological Survey used the same analytical techniques to demonstrate that surface waters, including major rivers and lakes in the Corn Belt, also contain some of the most used pesticides in the United States: herbicides used in corn and soybean production, including atrazine, alachlor, and cyanazine. During the 2 to 3 months in spring and early summer immediately after these herbicides are applied on farms, pesticide concentrations in surface waters can be much higher than in ground water. In some instances, human health standards are exceeded and concentrations of 1 to 10 ppb are common; occasionally, concentrations exceeding 100 ppb are observed. Concentrations in rivers and streams decrease to 1 ppb by mid-fall, but elevated concentrations may persist in lakes. (2) This seasonal peak concentration of pesticides in rivers and lakes in the period following their use on fields indicates that runoff, the drainage of excess rainfall from the surface of fields, is responsible for much of the pollution. .... ________ Now imagine all farmers using the same herbicide. On top of that the use of the GM technology makes farmers financially dependent on one or two companies. The Enron story should teach us not to depend on one company. total rubbish. Read about the Indian Cotton debacle. anyone can seed from any seedhouse. Seed is bought and sold around the world, we have used rye seed from Poland. It is not unreasonable to use a GM crop one year as part of a weed control programme then use a convention variety next year to get the higher yield and then get your crop analized for GM contamination and get sued for some leftover seeds surviving the winter. Jim Webster |
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