By Andrew
Pollack, NY Times
Rats fed either genetically engineered corn or the herbicide Roundup had an
increased risk of developing tumors, suffering organ damage and dying
prematurely, according to a new study that was immediately swept up into the
furor surrounding crop biotechnology when it was released Wednesday.
The
study, conducted by a prominent opponent of genetically engineered crops, was
immediately criticized by some other scientists, who said the methods were
flawed and that other research had not found similar problems.
But in
California, proponents of a ballot measure that would require genetically
modified foods to be labeled immediately seized on the study as support for their
cause. The French government ordered a review of the findings, saying they
could possibly result in the suspension of European imports of that type of
corn.
The
study, which is being published in the peer-reviewed journal Food and Chemical
Toxicology, was led by Gilles-Eric Séralini at the University of Caen in
France. He is also a leader of the Committee for Independent Research and
Information on Genetic Engineering, which sponsored the research.
The study
followed 200 rats for two years, essentially their entire lives, far longer
than the typical 90-day feeding studies used to win regulatory approval of
genetically engineered crops in some countries. While there have been some
other long-term studies, none has involved as many animals or as many detailed
measurements.
“The
results were really alarming,” Dr. Séralini said in a telephone news conference
conducted by an organization in Britain opposed to genetically modified crops.
He said that the tumors did not develop until well after 90 days, meaning they
might have been missed by shorter studies.
The rats
in the study were split into 10 groups, each containing 10 male and 10 female
rats. Six of the groups were fed different amounts of a corn developed by
Monsanto to be resistant to the herbicide Roundup. In some cases the corn had
been sprayed in the field with Roundup.
Three
other groups were given different doses of Roundup in their drinking water,
with the lowest dose corresponding to what might be found in tap water in the
United States, the authors said.
The 10th
group, the control, was fed nonengineered corn and plain water.
The study
found that in groups that ate the engineered corn, up to 50 percent of the
males and 70 percent of the females died before they would have from normal
aging, compared with 30 percent of the males and 20 percent of the females in
the control group.
Some 50
to 80 percent of the female rats developed tumors compared with only 30 percent
of the controls. And there were several times as many cases of liver and kidney
injury in the exposed rats.
Some
critics pointed out that the new findings contradicted other studies. One
review of long-term studies, published earlier this year, concluded that those
studies did not present evidence of health hazards.
Dr.
Chassy said that people and livestock had been eating genetically modified
grains for years without evidence of the high death rates and tumors in the
study. “Curious that no increase in tumor incidence has been reported in
animals eating large amounts of such grains,” he said.
Monsanto,
in a statement, said it would review the study, but that other studies had
confirmed the safety of its crops.
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