Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology

Alert

Stop Agent Orange Frankencorn!

Don't Let the USDA Approve Dow's 2,4-D-Tolerant Corn!

Monsanto's RoundUp Ready genetically engineered crops (soy, corn, cotton, sugarbeets, alfalfa and canola) are a failure, responsible for billions of super-weeds choking farmers' crops, millions of gallons of toxic pesticides sprayed on farm crops, and the propagation of a deadly new micro-monster that attacks plants, animals, and humans alike. Monsanto's Roundup herbicide, even in the wake of this trail of destruction, is still the most widely used herbicide on the planet.

But rather than moving away from chemical and energy-intensive GMO crops and deadly pesticides, the USDA is preparing to escalate, letting chemical/biotech companies such as Dow force on the market a new wave of genetically engineered herbicide-tolerant crops, mutants that can survive
being sprayed with the infamous herbicide 2,4-D, an Agent Orange ingredient with documented health human impacts, from cancer to immunosuppression,
reproductive damage to neurotoxicity.

We have until February 27, 2012, to try to convince the USDA not to approve Dow Chemical's new 2,4-D-tolerant corn.

TAKE ACTION!

Why Agent Orange Corn Is So Dangerous

There is a large body of evidence indicating major health problems resulting from exposure to 2,4-D, from cancer to immunosuppression, reproductive problems to neurotoxicity.

In mammals, 2,4-D disrupts energy production, depleting the body of its primary energy molecule, ATP.

2,4-D contains dioxins, environmental pollutants belonging to the "dirty dozen," a group of extremely toxic chemicals known as persistent organic pollutants.

2,4-D was banned in Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Quebec and scores of Canadian municipalities after numerous epidemiological studies linked 2,4-D to non-Hodgkin's lymphoma among farmers and members of the general public.

2,4-D causes significant suppression of thyroid hormone levels. Thyroid hormone is known to play a critical role in the development of the brain. Slight thyroid suppression has been shown to adversely affect neurological development in the fetus, resulting in lasting effects on the child's learning and behavior.

Male farm sprayers exposed to 2,4-D had lower sperm counts and more spermatic abnormalities compared to men who were not exposed to this chemical. In Minnesota, higher rates of birth defects have been observed in areas of the state with the highest use of 2,4-D and other herbicides of the same class. This increase in birth defects was most pronounced among infants who were conceived in the spring, the time of greatest herbicide use.

2,4-D also interferes with the neurotransmitters serotonin and dopamine. In young organisms, exposure to 2,4-D results in delays in brain development and abnormal behavior patterns, including apathy, decreased social interactions, repetitive movements, tremor, and immobility.

This herbicide impairs normal deposition of myelin in the developing brain. The neurotoxic and anti thyroid effects of 2,4-D mean that fetuses, infants, and children are more susceptible to longterm adverse health effects from exposure to this chemical although they may appear normal at birth.

2,4-D is excreted in breast milk, thereby resulting in potentially significant exposures to the nursling. 2,4-D residues have been detected in stomach contents, blood, brains and kidneys of 4-day-old neonates fed by 2,4-D exposed mothers. When maternal exposures stopped, the chemical continued to be excreted in maternal milk for a week. Postnatal exposures to this chemical during the critical period for development of the infant brain are of serious scientific concern.

Deregulation of 2,4-D tolerant crops would only increase our exposure to this dangerous pesticide.

LEARN MORE

 

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