Abstract
Abstract Background With a steady increase in the area cultivated with genetically modified (GM) crops, the impacts of GM crop cultivation are coming under closer scrutiny around the world. The impacts on humans usually refer to possible risks to health occurring as a result of the GM food consumption. Other concerns, such as the claims of human health benefits arising from the cultivation of GM crops via reduced use of pesticides could be considered, if at all, under economic impacts of the technology. Similarly, other human health impacts could occur as a result of a modification of the amount of pesticides residues found in underground water, which could be considered under environmental impacts. Yet many GM crops are not consumed on-farm, either because they require processing before becoming edible (such as soya bean, cottonseed and oilseed) or because the entire harvest is sold to maximise profits. It would be certainly difficult to demonstrate the importance of GM foods health effects versus the non-food health effects of GM crop cultivation on farmers. However, the non-food health effects, although apparently receiving less attention, deserve a closer look because of their potential economic and environmental links. Methods/design The primary research question is: What are the non-food impacts of GM crop cultivation on farmers’ health? To address specifically the main research question, the analysis focuses on two related secondary questions: 1) Does the cultivation of GM crops result in a lower number of pesticide-related poisonings? and 2) Does the cultivation of GM crops allow for higher financial resources to be used by farmers to improve their and their family’s health status? Further, the review will also evaluate the extent to which information relevant to the two secondary questions is freely-available. The abstracts of non-free articles, alongside their bibliographic details, will be included in a separate table, and if the information supplied would be detailed enough, a summary will be provided. The search and assessment methodologies (especially the search string, inclusion/exclusion criteria, data extraction table, data synthesis and presentation) were adapted following problems overcome, and experience gained, during a scoping search.
Highlights
Approved for commercialisation in a number of countries since the 1990s, the potential environmental, human/animal health, and socio-economic impacts of genetically modified (GM) crops are still widely debated
Even though the cultivation of GM crops appears to increase household income, evidence to demonstrate that farmers invested this extra income in improving their health remained inconclusive
Whilst some have pointed towards an array of socio-economic and environmental advantages, others have indicated that GM crop cultivation comes with adverse consequences
Summary
Approved for commercialisation in a number of countries since the 1990s, the potential environmental, human/animal health, and socio-economic impacts of genetically modified (GM) crops are still widely debated. One category of human health impacts (designated in this review as non-food health impacts) focuses on indirect effects of GM crop cultivation; amongst which the most prominent are health benefits via: (1) reduced use of pesticides, and (2) an increase in income. Both of these pathways have raised a lot of interest in the developing world, especially in areas experiencing high rates of pesticide poisonings and low agricultural incomes. Other reports have indicated that the cultivation of GM crops resulted in: an increase in the use of pesticides [7]; failures to provide significantly increased yields [8], and; an increase in allergenic and toxic effects [9]
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