Monarch caterpillars killied by Bt pollen

Monarch caterpillars fed milkweed leaves dusted with pollen from Bt crops died at a much higher rate.

1. Pollen blows everywhere up to 60 yards away from a GMO crop. It cannot be contained or controlled, thus it affects many more species and areas than companies claim it does.
2. We already know that Monsanto pays off scientists and schills to get the results they want. And Marc Fellous, former chairman of France's Biomolecular Engineering Commission (BEC) has been indicted for forging a scientist's signature without his consent. 
3. Both the FDA and EPA have been caught hiding information and lying to the public. See the rest of this blog for news stories, there are too many to reprint here. 

More links to studies about Bt and insects

1. Iowa study shows Bt pollen harmful to the monarch butterfly.
2. Cornell study. 1999.
3. Pleasants, J, KS Oberhauser. 2012. Milkweed loss in agricultural fields because of herbicide use: Effect on the monarch butterfly population. Insect Conservation and Diversity. DOI:10.1111/j.1752-4598.2012.00196.x
4. Oberhauser, K.S. and E.R.L. Rivers. 2003. Monarch butterfly (Danaus plexippus) larvae & Bt corn pollen: A review of ecological risk assessment for a non-target species. AgBiotechNet. 5:1-7.
5. Sears, M. K., R. L. Hellmich, D. E. Stanley-Horn, K. S. Oberhauser, J. M. Pleasants, H. R. Mattila, B. D. Siegfriedi, G. P. Dively. 2001. Impact of Bt corn pollen on monarch butterfly populations: A risk assessment. Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci. 98 (21): 11937-11942.

The Bt toxin affects many land invertebrate species, but also many aquatic vertebrates. I bred daphnia and ostracods for several years and when I put Bt in one barrel all invertebrates died. Luckily I was able to "reseed" the barrel the following year with no ill effects, but that was after a freezing Michigan winter. Not all environments that contain Bt will be safe after a mild winter.

But of course, industry, who wants to make a lot of money, claims Bt pollen is safe for insects. Just like  2,4-d (2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid, a herbicide), acetamiprid, Agent Orange, asbestos, aspartame, cigarettes, DDT, DES, diazinon, epoxiconazole, flame retardant in the US, fluroxypyr, fracking, glyphosate, imidacloprid, isoproturon, lead paint, malathion, mercury fillings, microbeads, organophosphates, parathion, PCBs, pirimicarb, prochloraz, tebuconazole, tetrachlorvinphos, thalidomide, Vioxx was safe. 

You can even do your own trial study to test this.

1. Get an aquarium. 
2. Learn how to care for daphnia or ostracods. They eat mainly free-floating bacteria or algae. 
3. Buy daphnia online and put into a cycled fish tank. 
4. Care for them for 3-4 weeks to get them stabilized. 
5. Add fresh Bt blocks to the aquarium, sold in local stores. 
6. Watch the population die. 

You can also do this experiment with cloning crayfish since they are a hearty species.


Sources

1. Cornell Study. 1999. Another link.
2. Laura C. Hansen Jesse, John J. Obrycki. 2000. Field deposition of Bt transgenic corn pollen: lethal effects on the monarch butterfly. Oecologia, DOI 10.1007/s004420000502, published online: 19 August 2000. Link to PDF full study.