MEXICO CITY - Genetically modified seeds and foods are not a threat to human health, but could have harmful impacts on the environment, says Mexican biotechnology expert Octavio Paredes, who on July 1 will become the first Latin American to receive an honorary doctorate from a prestigious Canadian university.

''We must be careful with molecular biotechnology when the environment is involved, because the products derived from it, like transgenic seeds, could cause alterations,'' Paredes told Tierramérica. However, he ruled out the notion that consuming foods from genetically modified plants could harm human health.

Because of his contribution to genetic research of native Mesoamerican plants, like maize, beans, huitlacoche and amaranth, the scientist, 62, will receive an Honoris Causa doctorate from the University of Manitoba, one of the world's leading schools in agricultural sciences.

For Paredes, it is a top priority to promote consumption of native maize species, and other plants endemic to Mesoamerica grown using traditional techniques, because they are the most nutritious, he says.

BUENOS AIRES - Argentine scientists found sea horses (Hippocampus) along the country's Atlantic coast, the southern-most population of a sea creature found mostly in temperate and tropical waters.

Biologists from the Argentine Museum of Natural Sciences marine ecology laboratory said the sea horses were found just meters off the coast in San Antonio Bay, in Rio Negro province, some 800 km south of Buenos Aires.

Scientist Gabriela Piacentino explained to Tierramérica that there are sea horses even farther south, in colder waters, known to local residents who are attempting to commercialize them.

The sea horse is among the animals protected by the Convention on the International Trade of Endangered Species of Wild Flora and Fauna (CITES), but it is sold for collection in aquariums and even dried as souvenirs.

LIMA - Peruvian lawmaker Fabiola Morales has petitioned Health Minister Pilar Mazzetti to provide explanations to the congressional environmental commission on the level of arsenic found in the capital's potable water service.

According to a study by independent laboratory Envirolab, in two of four points in the capital where samples were taken the water had more than 0.010 milligrams of arsenic per liter, the maximum allowed under recommendations of the World Health Organization.

Monitoring of potable water conditions is entrusted to the Health Ministry through the General Directorate of Environment, whose director Jorge Albinagorta told Tierramérica that ''the levels of arsenic recorded are within the permissible limits of our regulations, which accept up to 0.05 milligrams of arsenic per liter,'' though he admitted that more restrictive standards are being studied.

BOGOTA - Twenty-two families are to benefit from infrastructure projects for irrigation and an assistance plan from the Colombian Institute of Rural Development (INCODER) in the northern municipality of Santa Marta.

INCODER manager Arturo Vega explained to Tierramérica that the projects, begun on May 27, include 44 hectares of farmland outfitted for a gravity-based irrigation system, with automatic hydraulic circuits that involve a mechanism for separating out suspended materials from the water.

The plan for the district's poorer families will provide assistance in implementing a productive project based on the area's crops, water use and community organization.