[audio:http://wamcradio.org/EarthWise/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/EW-03-19-12-Atrazine.mp3|titles=EW 03-19-12 Atrazine]
Atrazine is the second most widely used herbicide in the United States. Last year some 75 million pounds of the weed killer were applied to sugar cane and corn crops, as well as lawns and golf courses. Sales topped a billion dollars.
But there is mounting concern about atrazine’s safety. Classified as a potential endocrine disruptor, it can interfere with hormones, causing birth defects and cancer. Even at levels considered “safe” by the EPA, atrazine has been associated with abnormalities in wildlife.
This is bad news, because atrazine one of the most commonly detected pesticides in our ground and surface waters.
Professor Tyrone Hayes, of the University of California at Berkeley, has shown that very low levels of atrazine can feminize male frogs, sometimes to the point of sex reversal. And numerous studies show atrazine exposure can disrupt hormone production in reptiles and fish.
In 2004, atrazine was banned in Europe. But Syngenta, the leading manufacturer, finds no ill effects—a conclusion also reached by limited EPA studies.
Rich Di Gulio of Duke University says it remains to be seen how atrazine impacts humans…
“I think the big issue is, ‘well what really are the concentrations that cause these effects?’ I think most people agree that atrazine does have some endocrine-disrupting capacity, but, like in most cases with chemical toxicity, the exposure side of the equation is just as important.”
More research is needed to determine how much weed killer is acceptable in our drinking water. But meanwhile, it’s foolish to put profits above human health.
Web Extra
Rich Di Gulio , a professor at Duke University, elaborates on the controversy surrounding atrazine…
[audio:http://wamcradio.org/EarthWise/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/Di-Gulio_extra_compressed.mp3|titles=Di Gulio_extra_compressed]Photo, taken on January 12, 2006, courtesy of UGA College of Ag via Flickr.