Genetic pollution found miles from trial site29 September 1999
Government policy on genetically modified (GM) food and crops suffered an embarrassing blow after GM oilseed rape pollen was found by scientists four and a half kilometres from an official farm scale trial site at Model Farm, near Watlington, Oxfordshire.
The Government's rules for the farm scale trials require only a 50 metre gap between GM crops and other fields have been shown to be completely inadequate. These are the first monitoring results of GM pollen from a farm scale trial. They show GM pollen at distances further than ever previously detected and shows the scale of the threat the trials pose to non-GM crops, beekeepers and the wider environment.
The errant GM pollen was found during a GM monitoring and analysis programme organised by Friends of the Earth and Newsnight. The monitoring was carried out by the National Pollen Research Unit and a bee specialist, and the GM analysis was carried out by the Federal Environment Agency in Austria.
The study, which looked at pollen carried by bees and in the air showed that:
- All six bee hives monitored - located at between 500 metres and 4.5 kilometres from the GM crop - were found to contain GM oilseed rape pollen.
- Airborne GM pollen was detected at up to 475 metres from the trial site.
Charles Secrett, Executive Director of Friends of the Earth, said: "This study shows that genetic pollution from the farm scale trials is already happening. Earlier this month we forced the Government to admit that the new farm scale trials are illegal. This week, we have shown that all the current GM trials threaten local farmers, beekeepers and the environment. This must be the death blow for the whole GM trials programme. Let Tony Blair use the Labour Party conference to announce that it will now be stopped. Nothing less will reassure the public that the Government gives a hoot about the environmental safety of GM food and crops."
Get these updates first
If you would like these news updates to be emailed to you as soon as they come out, then join our real food mailing list.
Register Here
News
