ENVIRONMENTAL GROUP CLAIMS EPA IGNORES HERBICIDE RISK
News Date August 25, 2009
In a report released this week by the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), the environmental group alleges that monitoring of drinking water for a popular herbicide fails to detect momentary spikes in higher than permissible concentrations of atrazine. “Because of the potential adverse effects associated with even short exposures to atrazine, the spikes detected in the watersheds and the public drinking water systems are particularly alarming.”
Atrazine, one of the most widely used herbicides in the world, is used by farmers to protect crops such as corn, sorghum and sugar cane from pest infestations.
According to EPA, “atrazine is also among the most intensively examined pesticides in the marketplace.” “EPA’s Office of Pesticide Programs (OPP) has determined that atrazine is safe when used according to approved label directions and precautions. In making this finding, the Agency has ensured that children, women of child-bearing age, and other sensitive subpopulations are protected.”
Syngenta, the manufacturer of atrazine points to EPA’s extensive examinations of the product and stands by its safety. It contends the spikes cited by the NRDC report fall within the one- and ten-day limits established by EPA.
Moreover, Syngenta contends, “Atrazine is a critical tool for use in conservation tillage and no-till systems—farming methods that eliminate plowing and/or reduce tillage. Conservation tillage makes cropland much less vulnerable to soil erosion, which is reduced by as much as 90 percent when compared to intensive tillage. When soil erosion is prevented, so is the runoff into our waterways of sediment—identified by EPA as the top pollutant in US streams and rivers.” (Contact: Nathan Bowen)