EPA Releases Bt Risks and Benefits Amid Controversy

July 18, 2001

The Environmental Protection Agency has released a revised assessment of risks and benefits of a class of genetically-modified products, which include Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) corn, cotton and potato plant-incorporated protectants, for public review. EPA is inviting public comment on whether changes are needed in the regulatory terms and conditions for these products based on the revised assessment.

Potential benefits and risks these products may pose to human health are assessed as are non-target species such as the Monarch butterfly, and the environment. It also reviews the available information concerning resistance management in insect pest populations.

EPA will present the report in a July 24 technical briefing for the public from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. in the Sheraton Crystal City Hotel, 1800 Jefferson Davis Hwy., Arlington, VA. EPA also plans to make available prior to the meeting a discussion paper which identifies a range of potential regulatory options for these products.

During the past year, EPA has been conducting a scientific assessment of registered Bt products as part of a larger process on behalf of the federal government to ensure that the use of biotechnology does not pose unreasonable risks to public health or to the environment.

This revised assessment will have direct bearing on how the agency proceeds regarding the conditional Bt corn and cotton registrations, scheduled to expire on Sept. 30. There is a 45-day comment period beginning July 17 on both the revised assessment and regulatory options EPA is considering regarding the expiring registrations.

To obtain related documents and learn more about the technical briefing, or to find out how to provide comments see: www.epa.gov/pesticides/biopesticides.

In a related development, a coalition of consumer, public health and environmental groups, as well as scientists and private citizens requested that EPA refrain from approving StarLink genetically engineered corn for human consumption until a "proper investigation" of StarLink is completed. The groups said EPA should take no action on StarLink until the proper data is provided and urged the panel not to recommend an approval of StarLink.

"We are urging the EPA not to make a decision on StarLink until it gets the evidence originally requested by its scientific advisors," said Bill Freese, senior policy analyst at Friends of the Earth, a member group of the Genetically Engineered Food Alert coalition. "With the investigation of white corn contamination incomplete and new reports of allergic reactions, we believe the EPA cannot legally approve StarLink corn for human consumption."

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS reported that in a report to a panel of scientific advisers who met Tuesday and today, EPA said testing by corn processors and seed companies have helped to dramatically reduce the amount of StarLink corn that could be in food. "We are in a very different place to where we were in November and December," Janet Anderson, a senior EPA official, told the scientists Tuesday.

EPA's scientific advisers are deciding whether the agency should grant a request by Aventis to set a maximum level for the biotech grain of 20 parts per billion of the food likely to be consumed by a particular individual. That's the equivalent of one StarLink kernel in every 50 million kernels of corn.

In its report, EPA says the actual levels of StarLink in U.S. corn supplies range from 0.34 to 8 parts per billion, depending on the method used to make the estimate. EPA says the corn ``will essentially be gone'' from grain supplies in two to three years.