Pesticidal proteins (Bt) from GM corn plants are now common in midwest streams

By John Laumer, Philadelphia
14 December 2010 Common sense tells us that, following corn harvest, fragments of corn cobs, leaves, stalks, silk, and pollen may be blown by the wind or carried across the land surface by runoff. Corn plant residues will end up in the sediments of streams lakes and reservoirs. Scientists call the result detritus. The rest of us call it ‘muck.’ It follows that if most of the corn being grown is genetically modified (“GM”) to contain toxic levels of Bt pesticide, as is currently the case throughout the corn belt, Bt residues are ‘in the muck’ – so to speak. Are Bt pesticide residues in river muck of sufficient concentration to be toxic? Based on recent stream sampling done in Indiana, the exposure to pesticides of aquatic organisms could indeed be high – potentially impacting several of the thousands of chironomidae (aquatic insect) species found in North American streams ponds and lakes. From Proceedings of the National Academies of the Sciences, here is the full abstract of Occurrence of maize detritus and a transgenic insecticidal protein (Cry1Ab) within the stream network of an agricultural landscape …

Pesticidal Proteins (Bt) From GM Corn Plants Are Now Common In Midwest Streams