Retracted green light on GM crops feeds suspicions

[forfismum]

Originally Posted by UrbanFarmboy

I simply love how peoples true colors come out in these debates.

You talk about profit like its a bad thing yet profit is what cloths you and feeds you. Someone is making a profit somewhere, but if it happens to be Monsanto then its bad.

The technology allows farmers to increase their profit which in turn allows them to provide for their families. If you think that feeding people and bettering ones situations are bad, then there is not much sense in debating you.

I like profit,how about I change the monsanto thing to obscene and rapacious profit,to exploitation etc etc

[deek]

UrbanFarmboy, you are generally correct with your comments about pollen and allergy relative to a monoculture, but lets not loose sight of the fact that research scientists have ruled out oilseed rape pollen as the causal factor in allergy type symptoms in those who live in close proximity to rape fields.

The conspiracy, I believe, is one of silence from the crop scientists and biotech supporters who refuse to consider and accept that volatile organic compounds (VOCs) emitted during the flowering phase are the most likely cause of allergy type symptoms. This is despite the fact that the Institute of Environment & Health scientific committee advised in 1997 that more research was required to elucidate the health problems relative to VOCs emitted from oilseed rape crops.

These discussions have a very important crossover with another thread which has a specific interest in chemicals “chemical law has global impact”.

As CT says, chemicals (whether naturally emitted from a dense monoculture or manmade) should be subject to a risk assessment to evaluate the risks to human health. I would be very interested to read a risk assessment pertaining to cultivating a dense monoculture (conventional or GM oilseed rape) in close proximity to residential areas in the UK. Can anyone provide me with a link to such a risk assessment?

UrbanFarmboy, if risk assessments undertaken by crop scientists in the UK have failed to identify and record that VOCs from oilseed rape crops have been identified as a research priority due to their propensity to cause allergy type symptoms, then I believe this would also support forfimum’s comments that companies like monsanto continue to make obscene and rapacious profits whilst putting the health of rural dwellers in the UK at risk due to exposure to VOCs from a dense monoculture.