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GM expert warns of cancer risk from crops (Thursday, Dec. 12, 2002 -- CropChoice news) --
Sunday Herald - 08 December 2002:
EATING genetically modified (GM) food could give you cancer. That is the
stark warning today from one of Scotland's leading experts in tissue
diseases.
Dr Stanley Ewen, a consultant histopathologist at Aberdeen Royal
Infirmary, says that a cauliflower virus used in GM foods could increase
the risk of stomach and colon cancers.
He is calling for the health of people who live near the farm-scale GM
crop trials in Aberdeenshire, Ross-shire and Fife to be monitored. Their
food and water will be contaminated by GM material, he said, which could
hasten the growth of malignant tumours.
'I don't want to be scare-mongering, I want to be understated,' Ewen
told the Sunday Herald. 'But I'm very concerned that people who rely on
local produce might be endangering themselves.'
The government, backed by its scientific advisors, has always insisted
the GM trials pose no risk to human health or the environment. Never
theless, the trials have provoked widespread opposition, with dozens of
protesters arrested for damaging GM crops.
Ewen's warning, which has been delivered to the Scottish Parliament's
Health and Community Care Committee, is bound to be seized on by critics.
The committee is just completing an investigation into the safety of
GM food and is hoping to report its findings this week.
Ewen, who has 29 years' experience as a histopathologist, is currently
leading a pilot project in Grampian to screen people for colon cancer.
In 1999, along with Dr Arpad Pusztai, a former researcher at Aberdeen's
Rowett Institute, he published a study suggesting that GM potatoes harm
rats.
In his submission to the health committee, Ewen expressed 'great
concern' about the use of the cauliflower mosaic virus as a 'promoter'
in GM foods. The virus is used like a tiny engine to drive implanted
genes to express themselves.
But Ewen pointed out that the virus is infectious, and could act as a
'growth factor' in the stomach or colon, encouraging the growth of
polyps. The faster and bigger polyps grow, the more likely they are to
be malignant, he added.
There are also risks in feeding GM products like maize to cattle, he
cautioned.
'It is possible cows' milk will contain GM derivatives that can be
directly ingested by humans as milk or cheese. Even a lightly cooked,
thick fillet steak could contain active GM material.'
GM material can be destroyed by cooking or boiling for 10 minutes, and
it can be broken down by the acids and enzymes in the stomach. But Ewen
is worried that genes in uncooked GM fruit and vegetables could survive
common stomach infections.
'It is possible GM DNA could affect stomach and colonic lining by
causing a growth factor effect with the unproven possibility of
hastening cancer formation in those organs,' he stated.
Ewen stressed that he is not opposed to all GM technology, which he
believes could have real benefits, particularly in medicine. But he is
sufficiently alarmed by the current use of the technology to urge the
health committee to call for a ban on GM crop trials while their safety
is tested on animals.
Doctors from the British Medical Association have also suggested a GM
ban to the committee because of the unknown effects on health. The
committee's investigation was prompted by a petition of 6000 signatures
gathered by protesters who maintained a vigil at a GM trial site at
Munlochy in Ross-shire.
'What is most worrying about Dr Ewen's evidence is that while his
concerns are disease-specific, the risks extend to a wide range of GM
food crops,' said Jo Hunt, director of the lobby group Highlands and
Islands GM Concern.
'The effects are caused not by just one 'bad' DNA fragment, but are a
result of the reaction of plant cells to genetic engineering itself. All
the major GM food plants currently produced could have the same effect
when eaten.'
Hunt argued that long-term research was needed to establish whether GM
food was safe. 'But instead of looking at the impact of GM food on
people's health, the Scottish Executive has spent over £5 million on
farm-scale trials to see how growing GM crops on Scottish farms will
affect butterflies and weeds. The Executive has already released GM at
11 sites and is considering allowing GM to be released anywhere in the
country from 2004, before it knows whether GM food is safe to eat.'
The Executive also came under fire from the Scottish National Party's
shadow environment minister, Bruce Crawford, who demanded a freeze on GM
crops trials. 'We cannot allow GM material to enter the food chain until
there are absolute guarantees that there are no risks,' he said.
He pointed out that, in a recent letter, the environment minister, Ross
Finnie, had admitted to him that plants around GM crops could become
contaminated . Finnie added, however, that the government's advice was
'unanimous in its conclusion that GM crops that have approval do not
pose a safety threat.'
Ewen's evidence to the health committee is backed up by a separate
submission from Arpad Pusztai, who now works as an independent
consultant. He warned that GM contamination could jeopardise human
health and cause irreversible environmental damage.
'We need to rethink the whole strategy of genetic engineering,' Pusztai
said. 'Because of its potential importance for, and effect on, mankind,
it should not be left to the decision of a few multinational companies.' | |
