Atrazine – Should I care?
This little guy is atrazine, the most widely used herbicide in the US (about 76 million pounds annually). Generally, it is used in corn and soybean farming; it is incredibly effective in preventing weeds and grass coming up between the plants….requires no tilling (i.e. no work) = no erosion/runoff. Industrials farmers love this stuff.
Atrazine typically has a relatively short half life, about 30 -100 days in soil. It breaks down via chlorination or by microbes to cyanuric acid…which is a carbon and nitrogen source in the soil.
Atrazine is also highly solubilized in water…often traveling into streams, runoff, and rainwater.
Below is a map detailing atrazine use in the US (circa 1997)
So why should I care?…Atrazine has been shown to be a potent endocrine disruptor in animals (at various doses). It has the chemical ability to transform testosterone into estrogen (mainly shown in fish, amphibians, and reptiles). Essentially, it can induce hermaphroditic behavior. It almost goes without saying that this change is devastating, especially to immune system resulting in increased mortality rates (again shown most predominantly in amphibians).
That being said, the EPA maintains the safety of atrazine when used properly and in low concentrations. Syngeta, the manufacturer, also maintains its safety.
I’ll be posting a more detailed analysis of atrazine effects in water. But for now, here are a number of links to more resources.
More Info
Washington Post Article
Dr. Hayes Website on Atrazine
Study of Atrazine effects on Frogs
Union of Concerned Scientists Article
NRDC article
EPA Page
Syngeta’s Atrazine Info Page
[...] interviewed on her new study of atrazine’s impact on human placental cells. This builds on our conversation with atrazine, starting from March’s discussion on atrazine in frogs. In the study, they showed atrazine [...]
Atrazine has received a lot of press lately and more consumers are finally becoming aware of the dangers of it in their drinking water.
The state of Indiana released a statement just this week, encouraging consumers to use “point of use” drinking water filtration systems to protect themselves. Unfortunately, not all filters remove atrazine.
I’m happy to say that the Multi-Pure drinking water systems DO remove atrazine, along with about 63 other harmful contaminants! Our filters cost less than bottled water and are certified by NSF to reduce the widest range of contaminants in the industry!
If you’d like to know more, I’d be happy to talk to you about our products. We can wait for the government to do its part or we can solve the problem ourselves!
http://www.multipureusa.com/tboice
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