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Plant Incorporated Protectants

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January 28, 2015 - EPA proposes framework to reduce corn rootworm resistance. Comment period open until 3/16/15 in docket EPA-HQ-OPP-2014-0805 at www.regulations.gov

Learn more about proposed measures to prevent corn rootworm resistance.

Curent as of January 2015

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Plant-incorporated protectants are pesticidal substances produced by plants and the genetic material necessary for the plant to produce the substance. For example, scientists can take the gene for a specific Bt pesticidal protein, and introduce the gene into the plant's genetic material. Then the plant manufactures the pesticidal protein that controls the pest when it feeds on the plant. Both the protein and its genetic material are regulated by EPA; the plant itself is not regulated.

Before EPA can register a pesticide there must be sufficient data demonstrating that it will not pose unreasonable risks to human health or the environment when used according to label directions. When assessing the potential risks of genetically engineered plant-incorporated protectants, EPA requires extensive studies examining numerous factors, such as risks to human health, nontarget organisms and the environment, potential for gene flow, and the need for insect resistance management plans.

In regulating PIPs, we base our decisions on strict scientific standards and extensive input from academia, industry, other Federal agencies, and the public. Before the first PIP product was registered in 1995, EPA required that PIP products be thoroughly tested against human safety standards before they were used on human food and livestock feed crops. EPA scientists assessed a wide variety of potential effects associated with the use of plant-incorporated protectants, including acute reactions, such as toxicity, allergenicity, and skin and eye irritation, as well as long-term effects including cancer, birth defects, and reproductive and neurological system disorders. Our scientists also evaluated these potential effects in light of the public's potential exposures to these pesticides, taking into account all potential combined sources of the exposure (food, drinking water, etc.) to determine the likelihood that a person would be exposed at levels that would pose a health risk. Based on our reviews of the scientific studies and often peer reviews by the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Scientific Advisory Panel, EPA determined that these genetically engineered PIP products, when used in accordance with approved label directions and use restrictions, would not pose unreasonable risk to human health and the environment during their time-limited registration.

History of Regulating PIPs

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