Atrazine Could Pose Bigger Risk than Anticipated

The Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) release a report on Monday which asserts drinking water containing a “common herbicide,” could pose a more serious threat to human health than previously thought. To read the NRDC report click here.

According to Kari Lyderson’s story on the report for the Washington Post, the report “documented spikes in atrazine in the water supplies of Midwestern and Southern towns in agricultural areas, where the herbicide is applied to the vast majority of corn, sorghum and sugar cane fields.” Atrazine can cause damage to the body’s hormonal activity, and it can affect the development of reproductive organs. A senior scientist for the NRDC, Jennifer Sass, believes atrazine could also be linked to “menstrual problems and endocrine-related cancers in adults.”

Syngenta, which manufactures atrazine, disagrees with the NRDC report. According to Syngenta toxicologist Tim Pastor, “"Atrazine is one of the best studied, most thoroughly regulated molecules on the planet . . . Those momentary spikes are not going to be injurious to human health." The Safe Drinking Water Act requires municipal water supplies be tested four times a year for chemicals.

Atrazine levels below 3 parts per billion are safe for human consumption according to the EPA. “But biweekly data collected by the EPA from 139 municipal water systems found that atrazine was present 90 percent of the time and that 54 water systems had one-time spikes above 3 parts per billion in 2003 and 2004, according to an analysis by the NRDC.” This has led the NRDC to believe the EPA’s limits are too lenient given present studies on the affects of atrazine. The EPA maintains they will take '“a hard look at atrazine and other substances,”’ to determine what policy or regulatory changes are necessary.

In the meantime the NRDC will keep pressuring the EPA to increase monitoring and to make results public. At the same time the NRDC is encouraging farmers to stop using the herbicide, or at the very least, reduce the amount they use.

To read Lyderson’s full story on atrazine click here.

Posted: 08/24/09