Wu Felicia
Environmental, Occupational Health, Graduate School of Public Health, University of Pittsburgh, 130 DeSoto St., Pittsburgh, PA 15261, USA.
Transgenic Res. 2006 Jun;15(3):277-89. doi: 10.1007/s11248-005-5237-1.
Genetically modified (GM) Bt corn, through the pest protection that it confers, has lower levels of mycotoxins: toxic and carcinogenic chemicals produced as secondary metabolites of fungi that colonize crops. In some cases, the reduction of mycotoxins afforded by Bt corn is significant enough to have an economic impact, both in terms of domestic markets and international trade. In less developed countries where certain mycotoxins are significant contaminants of food, Bt corn adoption, by virtue of its mycotoxin reduction, may even improve human and animal health. This paper describes an integrated assessment model that analyzes the economic and health impacts of two mycotoxins in corn: fumonisin and aflatoxin. It was found that excessively strict standards of these two mycotoxins could result in global trade losses in the hundreds of millions US dollars annually, with the US, China, and Argentina suffering the greatest losses. The paper then discusses the evidence for Bt corn's lower levels of contamination of fumonisin and aflatoxin, and estimates economic impacts in the United States. A total benefit of Bt corn's reduction of fumonisin and aflatoxin in the US was estimated at 23 million dollars annually. Finally, the paper examines the potential policy impacts of Bt corn's mycotoxin reduction, on nations that are making a decision on whether to allow commercialization of this genetically modified crop.
转基因（GM）Bt玉米由于具有害虫防护能力，其霉菌毒素含量较低：霉菌毒素是真菌在作物上定殖产生的作为次生代谢产物的有毒且致癌的化学物质。在某些情况下，Bt玉米带来的霉菌毒素减少量足以产生经济影响，无论是在国内市场还是国际贸易方面。在一些欠发达国家，某些霉菌毒素是食物的重要污染物，种植Bt玉米因其能减少霉菌毒素，甚至可能改善人类和动物健康。本文描述了一个综合评估模型，该模型分析了玉米中两种霉菌毒素——伏马菌素和黄曲霉毒素——的经济和健康影响。研究发现，对这两种霉菌毒素过于严格的标准可能导致全球每年贸易损失数亿美元，美国、中国和阿根廷遭受的损失最大。本文接着讨论了Bt玉米伏马菌素和黄曲霉毒素污染水平较低的证据，并估算了在美国的经济影响。估计在美国，Bt玉米减少伏马菌素和黄曲霉毒素带来的总收益为每年2300万美元。最后，本文探讨了Bt玉米减少霉菌毒素对正在就是否允许这种转基因作物商业化做出决策的国家的潜在政策影响。
