This summary (160kb) contains information on the types of studies conducted on insect-protected (Bt) biotech crops to assess potential risks to non-target organisms (NTOs).

Overview

* Insect-protected crops containing Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) proteins produce insecticidal proteins with a high degree of specificity for certain insect pest species

* The Bt proteins expressed in commercialized Bt crops have undergone extensive environmental safety assessments including studies to evaluate their potential impact on non-target organisms

* Risk assessment strategies for non-target organisms are developed by scientific experts according to established and accepted scientific principles

* Environmental safety assessments for biotech crops are conducted on a case-by-case basis involving a combination of lab and field experiments

* Studies to date on a wide spectrum of non-target organisms demonstrate that commercialized Bt crops do not pose unreasonable risk to NTOs

* Bt crops have been commercially available for seven years and were recently re-registered by the U. S. EPA (EPA, 2001 -cotton, corn) based on the comprehensive safety data available for Bt proteins and Bt crops

An extensive listing of citations (170kb) related to environmental safety (including Non-target organisms) is also attached.

Monsanto

Further information is available on our Help page about downloading or reading Adobe Acrobat documents.