Despite public health and environmental concerns, the EPA has approved the mass release of billions of genetically engineered mosquitoes in California and Florida.
This approval, which will be the biggest release of GE insects in the world, ignores growing concerns raised by scientists, public health experts and environmental groups.
The company Oxitec claims that GE mosquitoes will reduce incidence of mosquito borne diseases, however, there is no public data available to support this. The EPA granted the company an experimental use permit to release mosquitoes in four California counties this summer and allows for a pilot program in Monroe County, Florida.
According to Dr. Robert Gould, president of San Francisco Bay Physicians for Social Responsibility, “Once released into the environment, genetically engineered mosquitoes cannot be recalled.”
The EPA-sanctioned release of genetically engineered organisms with no transparency or proven risk-assessment is criminal, threatening both human health and ecological ecosystems.
For the Earth Minute and the Sojourner Truth Show this is Theresa Church with Global Justice Ecology Project.
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