Tell the EPA to REJECT Oxitec’s risky GMO mosquito before Donald Trump takes office.

Billions of experimental GMO mosquitoes released into our environment sounds like a nightmare waiting to happen. It is – especially with Donald Trump in office.

Biotech company Oxitec is asking the EPA to be allowed to sell this experimental mosquito everywhere in the US and US territories, risking our communities and ecosystems. Oxitec is hiding its data from the public, and yet the EPA could approve this experiment for commercial sale anyway.

We need careful analysis, robust public participation, and specific regulations for GMO insects to prevent reckless experiments like this one. Instead, the EPA has given companies like Oxitec a free pass without real risk assessments to protect people or ecosystems.

You can stop this market approval, but we need you to act NOW!

Comments

Dear EPA,

I strongly urge you to deny Oxitec’s commercial permit application to sell and release GMO mosquitoes in the U.S. There is no current data presented in this proposal on which the public should be able to offer an assessment and useful comments. The public should have access to key information, including impacts on endangered species, the trial data from the two releases in Florida, and full public health data.

Sound science-based decision making must be grounded in full and transparent data reviewed by a panel of independent scientists ahead of any approval for releases into the environment. This is necessary to ensure that the health of the public and the environment are protected. Once EPA releases information about Oxitec’s application and data from Oxitec’s last GE mosquito experiments, EPA should open a second and longer public comment period and conduct extensive outreach across the U.S., provide translation services, and accept public comments from public hearings so as to include the voices of people who do not have access to email and who may have limited English proficiency.

EPA and Oxitec have not provided sufficient data, peer-reviewed or otherwise, on which to base a scientifically sound risk assessment. The publicly accessible information is sparse, and Oxitec would need to assess the potential impacts on public health and endangered species in all ecosystems across the U.S. The EPA’s past risks assessments do not fully analyze significant agricultural lands, and the associated chemicals used in these settings, such as tetracycline, that would impact any release. Without sufficient and publicly available science, data, analysis, or identification of need, we do not support the commercial use proposal.

A release of genetically engineered mosquitoes could pose serious risks to the many unique environments across the U.S. and to public health and must be denied. Alternative solutions to address mosquito abatement that carry less risk and uncertainty must be prioritized.

Given the novelty and precedent-setting nature of the first GE insect proposed for market use, the missing information, and potential impacts of the GE mosquito on ecosystems and people, there should be a full NEPA review, a through Environmental Impact Statement, and formal endangered species consultation for this application. The diversity of ecosystems in the U.S. should not be treated as one, and the endangered species and protected habitats endemic in different areas must not be overlooked. In addition, there are no federal risk assessments specific to genetically engineered insects. EPA must refer to international guidelines for risk assessments, particularly given the GE mosquitoes could cross boundaries into other states and neighboring countries.

While limiting mosquito populations and the spread of mosquito borne disease is important, this product has still not undergone transparent, independent scientific review or caged trials, which should be requirements. Moreover, the company told authorities in the Cayman Islands that reducing the numbers of Yellow Fever mosquitoes might cause rapid growth of the Asian Tiger mosquito population.  Currently, the limited data shared by Oxitec remains fraught with many unanswered and critical questions.

We request that the EPA deny Oxitec’s application for the sale and release of genetically engineered mosquitoes.

Our elected officials and government agencies must not rely solely on data from the companies that would profit from genetically engineered organisms to decide what information the public and regulators should know or what is considered safe. Oxitec’s application for commercial use of genetically engineered mosquitoes in the U.S. must not be allowed to move forward.

Sincerely,

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