Is atrazine still used in the US?

Atrazine is one of the most commonly used herbicides in the United States: Approximately 80 million pounds of it are used across the country each year. It’s a common contaminant of ground, surface and drinking water. It’s so dangerous to both people and wildlife that it has been banned by the European Union.

Is atrazine harmful to humans?

Atrazine has a lot of adverse effect on health such as tumors, breast, ovarian, and uterine cancers as well as leukemia and lymphoma. It is an endocrine disrupting chemical interrupting regular hormone function and causing birth defects, reproductive tumors, and weight loss in amphibians as well as humans.

Why was atrazine banned?

Research has linked atrazine to birth defects and cancer in people, and even miniscule doses can chemically castrate frogs. It has been banned or is being phased out in more than 35 countries but is the second-most commonly used herbicide in the United States.

What did Dr Tyrone Hayes do?

Tyrone B. Hayes (born July 29, 1967) is an American biologist and professor of Integrative Biology at University of California, Berkeley known for his research concluding that the herbicide atrazine is an endocrine disruptor that demasculinizes and feminizes male frogs.

Do farmers still use atrazine?

Atrazine is one of the most commonly used herbicides in the US. Farmers spray it on crops such as corn, sorghum, and sugarcane to control grasses and broadleaf weeds.

Is atrazine in drinking water?

In many countries, after application in agricultural areas, atrazine has been found in groundwater at levels of 0.01–6 µg/litre. It has also been detected in drinking-water in several countries at levels of 0.01–5 µg/litre (11,12).

Does Roundup contain atrazine?

“Atrazine is a hundred times worse than glyphosate, the active ingredient in Roundup, because it’s an endocrine disruptor,” said Nathan Donley, a scientist at the Center for Biological Diversity, which has called for a complete ban of the chemical. “It can have huge impacts and should have been banned a long time ago.”

Is there atrazine in your drinking water?

Atrazine can end up in lakes, streams and sometimes in drinking water. “Atrazine is the number one contaminant found in drinking water in the U.S. and probably globally probably in the world”, says University of California Berkeley, scientist Tyrone Hayes.

What has been the outcome of Dr Hayes research about atrazine?

Hayes confinued the research with independent funding and found more of the same results: exposure to doses of atrazine as small as 0.1 parts per billion (below allowed regulatory limits) turns tadpoles into hermaphrodites – creatures with both male and female sexual characterisfics.

What foods contain atrazine?

Atrazine is made in the laboratory and does not occur naturally. Atrazine is used on crops such as sugarcane, corn, pineapples, sorghum, and macadamia nuts, and on evergreen tree farms and for evergreen forest regrowth.

What crop is atrazine usually applied to?

Atrazine is an herbicide widely used for control of broadleaf and grassy weeds. It is sprayed on row crops such as corn, sorghum and sugarcane, and in some areas is used on residential lawns. It has also been used on highway and railroad rights-of-way. EPA now restricts how atrazine can be used and applied.

Does bottled water contain atrazine?

Is bottled water safe from atrazine? No. Almost half of all bottled water comes from filtered tap water and depending on the filtering this might not be free of atrazine and other herbicides. Spring water could also be contaminated depending on the source.