Tech | May 23, 2011 | 5 comments

Toxic pesticides from GM food crops found in unborn babies

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covelogibbs
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Toxic pesticides which are implanted into genetically modified food crops have lodged in the blood of pregnant women and their unborn babies, research shows.

Scientists at the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, at the University of Sherbrooke Hospital Centre in Quebec, took dozens of samples from women.
Traces of the toxin were found 93 per cent of the pregnant mothers and in 80 per cent of the umbilical cords.

The research suggested the chemicals were entering the body through eating meat, milk and eggs from farm livestock which have been fed GM corn.

The findings appear to contradict the GM industry’s long-standing claim that any potentially harmful chemicals added to crops would pass safely through the body.

To date, most of the global research which has been used to demonstrate the safety of GM crops has been funded by the industry itself.

It is not known what, if any, harm the chemicals might cause but there has been speculation it could lead to allergies, miscarriage, abnormalities or even cancer.

One of the researchers told the scientific journal Reproductive Toxicology: “This is the first study to highlight the presence of pesticides associated with genetically modified foods in maternal, fetal and nonpregnant women's blood.”

Pete Riley, the director of GM Freeze, a group opposed to GM farming, described the research as “very significant”.

The Agriculture Biotechnology Council, which speaks for the GM industry, has questioned the reliability and value of the research.

Dr Julian Little, its chairman, said: “Biotech crops are rigorously tested for safety prior to their use and over two trillion meals made with GM ingredients have been safely consumed around the world over the past 15 years without a single substantiated health issue.”
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5 comments // Toxic pesticides from GM food crops found in unborn babies

  • good_stuff
  • ecoalex
    • 0
      ecoalex  
    • With the bio tech companies submitting the safety trial data who knew? With the fox in the chicken house what would you expect.Thx USAD FDA,you're the best the biotech could buy.

    • 1 year ago
  • queenofit
    • +1
      queenofit  
    • From article....
      "Dr Julian Little, its chairman, said: “Biotech crops are rigorously tested for safety prior to their use and over two trillion meals made with GM ingredients have been safely consumed around the world over the past 15 years without a single substantiated health issue.”

      I really wonder where his basis lies in this comment? Could it be he is using the word "substantiated" before the "health issue"? How sneaky is that? I suppose he is basing his premise upon the shaky ground, that since we have no control groups to compare, and no way to actually prove illness, then it all must be safe.

      The rigorous testing he speaks of? I would like to see where he gets his studies? All that I can find are articles stating such as this: http://www.responsibletechnology.org/fraud/rigged-studies/Company-Research-On-Ge...

      In that linked article which is very long, it summarizes at the end: "Industry-funded research that favors the funders is not new. Bias has been identified across several industries. In pharmaceuticals, for example, positive results are four times more likely if the drug’s manufacturer funds the study.[22] When companies pay for the economic analyses of their own cancer drugs, the results are eight times more likely to be favorable.[23] Compared to drug research, the potential for industry manipulation in GM crop studies is considerably higher. Unlike pharmaceutical testing, GM research has no standardized procedures dictated by regulators. GM studies are not usually published in peer-reviewed journals and are typically kept secret by companies and governments. There is little money available for rigorous independent research, so company evidence usually goes unchallenged and unverified. Most importantly, whereas drugs can show serious side-effects and still be approved, GM food cannot. There is no tolerance for adverse reactions; feeding trials must show no problems.

      Thus, when industry studies show problems (in spite of their efforts to avoid them), serious adverse reactions and even deaths among GM-fed animals are ignored or dismissed as “not biologically significant” or due to “natural variations.”

      And that is why I cannot believe a word these poison peddlers say about their products, and why I avoid this GMO at all cost.

    • 1 year ago
  • covelogibbs
  • ecoalex
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