EPA pushes out Monarch results

At the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's request, the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) this week plans early publication of papers clearly indicating that the concerns raised two years ago about the toxicity of Bt pollen on monarch butterflies are unfounded.

In the now-famous study, Cornell scientist John Losey concluded that milkweed leaves - the sole item in the monarch diet - were made toxic when dusted with pollen from Bt corn (see BioCentury, May 24, 1999). Despite criticism of the study from prominent scientists, the purported threat to the popular lepidopteran made headlines around the world, and now is accepted as common knowledge...