The article I read yesterday in the Washington Post
featured a widespread rumor and exposed falsehood about the EPA spying with
predator drones.
We are always shocked at hearing that lies have entered
mainstream media and conversation, although it happens frightfully easily. When
we even take the time to think critically and ask questions of what information
we’re soaking in, we rarely find an expert or witness that can give us answers.
I faced a similar situation recently, but fortunately I found some experts. A friend of mine, a nurse actually, told
me about a doctor that writes public nutrition reports and runs a business
selling herbal supplements. His name is Dr. Mercola, and you may have heard of
him.
Dr. Mercola wrote an article called “Eating this Common Food CouldDamage Your Kidneys”
about GMO corn. He attempted to reveal potential damaging effects of Bt which
is the bio-pesticide the plants carry. He defends his thesis with a Journal
of Applied Toxicology article Cytotoxicity on human cells of Cry1Ab and Cry1Ac Bt insecticidaltoxins alone or with a glyphosate-based herbicide that demonstrates human kidney cells in a vial dying off as they are exposed to Bt. Additionally, Dr. Mercola
describes the rapid evolution of Bt-resistant pests as prompted by genetically
modified corn. Having great respect for my friend who showed me this article
and wanting to answer questions we both produced, I took Dr. Mercola’s article
to the U. S. Farmers and Ranchers Alliance Food Dialogues training session. I
was hoping to find an expert in the area of genetically engineered (GE) crops,
as I am not one!
At the USFRA meeting, I found Lisa Lunz of the Nebraska
Soybean Board who answered a few of my questions. We generated more questions
together which she would relay to a specialist. Just as promised, I received
several documents in the mail composed by scientist teams that spoke (and cited
an overwhelming heap of evidence) contrary to Dr. Mercola’s inferences.
Dr. Tom Hunt was the entomologist Lisa recruited to provide
an expert’s perspective on the Mercola matter. First, he explained that the Bt
resistance developed by the corn rootworm is not a pandemic as Dr. Mercola
describes. In fact, Bt resistant corn rootworms have developed in plots of corn
only where a specific protein type of Bt (Cry3Bb1) corn is grown. Not just any GMO corn, but a specific kind,
was planted over and over for more than 3 years. The majority of farmers, being
educated career people, know not to do this. The farmers that follow
recommendations for pest control can also reduce their risk from any of their neighbors’
mistakes because they rotate crops and vary their GMO corn variety. The second
sentence in Dr. Mercola’s article is false: “Twenty-two of the top experts on
corn pests are urging the US Environmental Protection Agency to take action to
halt the use of such GE crops.” Dr. Hunt explained that the letter did not ask
to halt their use, but to the contrary made recommendations as to the
responsible continuation of GE crops.
Dr. Hunt believes that the study Dr. Mercola
references was pretty weak because of the extremely high dosage and also the exposure method
in the lab. The dosage was equal to what a human diet of pure corn leaves would
be, but even if a desperate vegetarian became lost and hungry in an earless cornfield,
that dosage of Bt would never reach the kidneys. Dr. Hunt questioned why the response of kidney cells
and not intestinal cells was observed. In vivo, human kidneys
are unlikely to come into contact with Bt proteins. This was discussed in the
last post “The Real ‘Dirty Dozen’ Deal”, but again, humans do not have Bt receptors in their gut, simply because
humans are not insects. I hope you have attained enlightening by that one fact
alone.
To continue on, glyphosate (the main component of RoundUp
herbicide) has never produced any temporarily or longitudinally (over a
lifetime) problems in humans that have ingested it. The glyphosate allegations
in Mesnage et al. (2011) were based on a mathematical model, not a real time
observation. Many farmers joke about being able to drink it and be fine. The
thing is, scientists think they’re right.
Finally, here are two online sources that speak of Dr.
Mercola’s many conflicts of interest: “FDA Orders Dr. Joseph Mercola to StopIllegal Claims” and “9 Reasons to Completely Ignore Joseph Mercola”.
His claims span from discouraging vaccinations
in young children, to denouncing mammograms, all the way to curing or totally preventing cancer with his
herbal products.
