Opinion of the former Scientific Commitee on Plants (SCP)
Adopted
14/07/1998
Conclusion
MON531 cotton is safe as conventional cotton, and releasing MON531 for processing and food and feed use is unlikely to cause adverse effects on human health and the environment.
Various parameters were compared including composition and morphology.
Compositional analysis
No differences in the processing quality of cotton fibres and the nutrient composition of seeds were observed.
Safety of food and feed
New proteins
CryIA(c) und nptII
Feeding studies on mice, birds, and mammals showed no evidence of acute toxicity.
No correspondence to known toxins.
Allergenicity of the new protein
No correspondence with known allergens (amino acid sequence comparison)
The protein is rapidly broken down when treated with intestinal fluid.
The refined cottonseed oil and cellulose from cotton fibres are free of proteins and DNA.
Assessment for food and feed
Feeding trials on quails fed MON531 cotton flour: No negative effects observed.
Nutritional equivalence
Feeding trials on rats fed MON531 cotton flour: No negative effects observed.
Enviromental safety
Survivability
Cotton originates from the tropics, and no members of the Gossypiaea tribe are native to the EU. Hybridisation experiments with several species have not resulted in viable offspring.
Outcrossing
Cotton (Gossypium hirsutum), a member of the Malvacea family, is a perennial plant that is planted and harvested annually. It is predominantly self-pollinated, but pollen is also transferred by insects (various species of bees and bumblebees).
Outcrossing rates of up to 28% with other cotton cultivars in adjacent fields have been observed under field conditions. Rates decline rapidly with increasing distance.
Non-target organisms
Agronomic field studies show that MON531 is no different than conventional counterparts when it comes to resistance to diseases and arthropod pests (excluding lepidoptera). These studies included honey bees, lacewing larvae, ladybird beetles (ladybugs), and parasitic Hymenoptera.
Summary of risk assessment
isogenic line