Module 3 Position Paper
Jerry Wilkins
ITT Technical Institute There are many risks both health and environmental that take place when using hormones to genetically engineer food. According to the American Academy of Environmental Medicine (AAEM), several animal studies indicate serious health risks associated with genetically modified (GM) food. The AAEM has asked physicians to advise all patients to avoid GM foods. Numerous health problems increased after GMOs were introduced in 1996. The percentage of Americans with chronic illnesses and food allergies has gone up drastically. Reproductive disorders, autism, and digestive problems have steadily been on the rise as well. Although there is no sufficient research to confirm that genetically engineered foods are a contributing factor to these issues, there is still something about the process of genetically modifying the food that seems immoral and unhealthy.
Between 1996 and 2008, US farmers sprayed an extra 383 million pounds of herbicide on GM food producing a "superweeds," which are resistant to the herbicide. This is causing farmers to use even more toxic herbicides every year. Not only does this create environmental harm, GM foods contain higher residues of toxic material. Roundup, for example, is linked with sterility, hormone disruption, birth defects, and cancer. GM crops and their associated herbicides can harm birds, insects, amphibians, marine ecosystems, and soil organisms. They reduce bio-diversity, pollute water resources, and are known to be unsustainable. Roundup herbicide has been shown to cause birth defects in amphibians, embryonic deaths and organ damage in animals even at very low doses. GM canola has been found growing wild in North Dakota and California, threatening to pass on its herbicide tolerant genes on to weeds and other plants that may cross its path. If GM foods on the market