Are GMO crops improving children’s IQ?

[Danny Hakim’s October 29th article in the New York Times appears to suggest] that planting GMO crops has 1) lead to increased reliance on pesticides similar to those used by the Nazi’s, 2) those pesticides have caused a remarkable drop in our children’s intelligence….

But the truth of the matter is exactly the opposite. The “one class of insecticides” that Mr. Hakim refers to … is the organophosphate group of insecticides. This group of insecticides is generally acknowledged to be relatively toxic compared to many other types of pesticides. But GMO crops (Bt crops in particular) have reduced the use of this class of insecticides. Before widespread adoption of Bt corn, over 12 million pounds of organophosphate insecticides were being sprayed annually…. By 2014… organophosphate insecticide use had dropped by 98% ….

[T]here is strong evidence that nearly all types of insecticides have decreased as Bt crops have been adopted in every country where GMOs have been allowed to be planted.

Contrary to my post title, I’m not going to try and claim that adoption of GMO crops has increased childrens’ IQ. But I find Mr. Hakim’s implication that the opposite has occurred to be completely without merit.

The GLP aggregated and excerpted this blog/article to reflect the diversity of news, opinion and analysis. Read full, original post: Could GMO corn be responsible for increasing childrens’ IQ?