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Atrazine: Science Under Siege

Atrazine. It’s in our lakes, streams and drinking water at levels that make a difference to human health. Scientists link exposure to increased risk of birth defects, infertility and possibly cancer.

Who’s responsible? The Syngenta corporation — the world’s largest pesticide company. They’re working overtime to promote and protect their flagship product in the U.S., despite the fact that it’s long been banned in their home county of Switzerland. Syngenta has intimidated scientists, pressured regulators and paid an economist to manufacture faulty studies — all to keep an unnecessary product on the market.

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Articles of Interest

Atrazine: A Harmful Weedkiller Taints Tap Water for Millions in U.S.

Atrazine, a widely used agricultural weedkiller that disrupts hormones, contaminates tap water supplies for about 7.6 million Americans at potentially harmful levels. But the federal government is doing little to counter the threat.

Atrazine: Poisoning the Well

Banned in the European Union and clearly linked to harm to wildlife and potentially to humans, the pesticide atrazine provides little benefit to offset its risks. In 2009, NRDC analyzed results of surface water and drinking water monitoring data for atrazine and found pervasive contamination of watersheds and drinking water systems across the Midwest and Southern United States. This May 2010 report summarizes scientific information that has emerged since the publication of our initial report and includes more recent monitoring data.

Debating How Much Weed Killer Is Safe in Your Water Glass

For decades, farmers, lawn care workers and professional green thumbs have relied on the popular weed killer atrazine to protect their crops, golf courses and manicured lawns. But atrazine often washes into water supplies and has become among the most common contaminants in American reservoirs and other sources of drinking water.

Syngenta Harassed the Scientist Who Exposed Risks of its Herbicide Atrazine

Atrazine has been banned in the European Union over concerns that it is a groundwater contaminant with potential effects for wildlife and human health. Yet it is the second-most widely used herbicide in the United States,...

The Atrazine Saga and its Importance to the Future of Toxicology, Science, and Environmental and Human Health

The herbicide atrazine is one of the most commonly used, well studied, and controversial pesticides on the planet. Much of the controversy involves the effects of atrazine on wildlife, particularly amphibians, and the ethically questionable decision making of members of industry, government, the legal system, and institutions of higher education, in most cases in an effort to "bend science," defined as manipulating research to advance economic, political, or ideological ends.

The Weed Killer Atrazine May Be Harming Your Health

If it wasn’t for Roundup, atrazine would probably be the most controversial herbicide on the planet. It’s the pesticide most commonly found as a runoff contaminant in rivers, streams, lakes, and wetlands.

Would banning atrazine benefit farmers?

Atrazine, an herbicide used on most of the US corn (maize) crop, is the subject of ongoing controversy, with increasing documentation of its potentially harmful health and environmental impacts. Supporters of atrazine often claim that it is of great value to farmers; most recently, Syngenta, the producer of atrazine, sponsored an “Atrazine Benefits Team” (ABT) of researchers who released a set of five papers in 2011, reporting huge economic benefits from atrazine use in US agriculture.