Trade Increasing Number of Exotic Species

Exotic insects and diseases that attack plants can be very destructive and cost millions of dollars to fight. Just ask those cities fighting the invasion of the emerald ash borer and the Asian longhorned beetle. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Rebecca Williams reports… a recent study looks at where new potential pests are coming from:

Transcript

Exotic insects and diseases that attack plants can be very destructive and
cost millions of dollars to fight. Just ask those cities fighting the
invasion of the emerald ash borer and the Asian longhorned beetle. The
Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Rebecca Williams reports… a recent
study looks at where new potential pests are coming from:


Inspectors at airports, ports and borders nab between 40 and 60 thousand
different potential plant pests each year. That’s according to a study in
the journal, Biological Invasions.


Author Deb McCullough says global trade is leading to an increase in the
number of non-native insects and diseases that could become problems.


“China in particular which has become one of our major trading
partners…most of the kinds of climate that you’ll find in China, you’ll
find somewhere here in the U.S., and there’s really an awful lot of
opportunities for exotic insects to become established here.”


McCullough says it’s hard to estimate how many new potential pests
could be slipping past inspectors. She says at best, inspectors go through
just 2% of agricultural cargo coming into the U.S. each year.


For the GLRC, I’m Rebecca Williams.

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Tighter Regs on Future Ge Foods?

A recent study from a group of scientists suggests the government should keep a closer eye on genetically modified foods. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Tom Weber reports:

Transcript

A recent study from a group of scientists suggests the government
should keep a closer eye on genetically modified foods. The Great
Lakes Radio Consortium’s Tom Weber reports:


The study is from the National Academy of Sciences. Authors found
there’s nothing inherently hazardous about the way foods are
genetically altered today.


Tim Zacharewski is with Michigan State University. He’s one of the
scientists who helped write the report. He says the report is a
response to points raised in the ongoing debate over genetically
modified foods…


“There’s growing concern within the consumer market, as well as with
trading partners, that these products may actually not be safe. At
this time there’s no evidence to support that.”


But Zacherewski says the study also notes there is a potential that
future products could be unsafe… especially as newer technology
allows more and more types of food to be altered. And the study’s
authors say that the government should focus its regulations on those
newer technologies.


For the Great Lakes Radio Consortium, I’m Tom Weber.

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