WASHINGTON — A new congressional report concludes that genetically engineered bovine growth hormone, used to increase milk production in cows, poses no safety hazards to humans or to the animals in which it is injected.
The report, prepared by the congressional Office of Technology Assessment, agrees with the Food and Drug Administration that the hormone poses no fundamental danger, as some scientists, consumer groups and state regulators have argued.
But the congressional agency also said that widespread commercial use of the growth hormone was likely to put greater economic stress on many small dairy farmers, because it was likely to push milk prices down.
The report, to be issued on Friday, is likely to strengthen the position of companies now pressing the federal government for commercial marketing approval.
It gives members of Congress an independent technical basis for refusing to override attempts by the Food and Drug Administration to approve such growth hormones for widespread commercial use. Until now, the drug agency has allowed their use in dairy herds only experimentally.
In its report, the congressional office agrees with the FDA and says the hormone is very unlikely to turn up in milk consumed by humans and that, even if that happens, it would have no effect on humans.
The agency reiterated the opinion of most scientists, saying that bovine growth hormone`s effects were specific to cows and that the drug ``does not elicit any of its normal biological actions in humans, even if injected.``
The report notes that bovine growth hormone has a unique three-dimensional shape that can only attach to cells in dairy cows.
Genetically engineered versions of the natural hormone, although having slightly different molecular structures, would be equally unlikely to affect humans.
The use of the hormone, technically known as bovine somatotropin, has been a source of heated debate among groups worried about its safety as well as its economic effect on farmers. Supporters of the drug contend it can increase a cow`s milk production by 10 to 25 percent.
But some consumer groups have argued that important safety issues have not been addressed, and that many smaller farmers have been alarmed about the hormone`s effect on their livelihoods.
Four companies have developed genetically engineered versions of the drug and have applied for federal approval to begin marketing it. They are Monsanto Co., Upjohn Co., American Cyanamid Corp. and Eli Lilly & Co.