Research Document 2019/006

Environmental Risk Assessment of the GloFish® Sunburst Orange®, Starfire Red®, Galactic Purple®, Moonrise Pink®, and Cosmic Blue® Tetras; Transgenic Ornamental Fish, Imported to Canada for Sale in the Pet Trade

By Leggatt, R. and McGowan, C.

Abstract

Pursuant to the Canadian Environmental Protection Act (CEPA), a notification under the New Substances Notification Regulations (Organisms) (NSNR(O)) was submitted by Spectrum Brands to Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) for the import of five genetically engineered White Skirt Tetras (Gymnocorymbus ternetzi), called the GloFish® Sunburst Orange® Tetra (OT2018), Moonrise Pink® Tetra (PiT2018), Starfire Red® Tetra (RT2018), Galactic Purple® Tetra (PT2018), and Cosmic Blue® Tetra (BT2018), for commercial sales in Canada. The environmental risk assessment analyzed potential hazards, likelihood of exposure and associated uncertainties, to reach a conclusion on risk. The environmental exposure assessment concluded that the occurrence of OT2018, PiT2018, RT2018, PT2018 and BT2018 in the Canadian environment, outside of aquaria, is expected to be rare, isolated, and ephemeral due to its inability to survive typical low winter temperatures in Canada’s freshwater environments. Consequently, the likelihood of exposure to the Canadian environment is ranked low. Uncertainty associated with the exposure assessment is low, given the available data for temperature tolerance of the notified lines and relevant comparators, and lack of establishment of non-transgenic G. ternetzi in North America despite a long history of use. The environmental hazard assessment concluded that potential hazards linked with environmental toxicity, trophic interactions, hybridization, disease, biodiversity, biogeochemical cycling, and habitat are negligible. There is low hazard (i.e., no anticipated harmful effects) related with horizontal gene transfer. Uncertainty associated with the environmental hazard ratings range from low to moderate due to data limitations for the notified and surrogate organisms, and some reliance on expert opinion and anecdotal evidence. There is low risk of adverse environmental effects at the exposure levels predicted for the Canadian environment from the use of OT2018, PiT2018, RT2018, PT2018 and BT2018 as ornamental aquarium fish, or other potential uses.

Research Document 2019/006 (PDF, 928 KB)

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