• Overview
• Food
• Baby Care
• Hazards & Threats
• News
• Our Purpose
• Prevention
• Products
• Sustainability & Lifestyle
• All Articles
• All Videos

Blog

A new report released this week by the Natural Resources Defense Council reveals alarming levels of the pesticide atrazine in the water supply of the Midwest and Southern United States. The report, Poisoning the Well, warns that regular municipal monitoring could be contributing to a public health risk by publishing misleadingly low levels of atrazine contamination. The current method of testing misses the frequent spikes in atrazine levels that occur during specific phases of farming.

Atrazine is an industrial chemical used as an herbicide to kill weeds, predominantly in corn, sorghum, and sugarcane production, though also on lawns and golf courses in some states. It is currently used in about 80 countries worldwide, but was banned by the European Union in 2004 because of persistent groundwater contamination. Yet, 60 – 80 million pounds are applied yearly in the United States, making atrazine one of the most widely used herbicides. According to the New York Times, an estimated 33 million Americans have been exposed to atrazine through their drinking water systems.

Like many industrial pesticides, atrazine is toxic to the environment and human health. Documented to disrupt hormones in rat and other animal testing, it can interfere with the body's endocrine activity and the development of reproductive organs, and make some adults vulnerable to cancer later in life.

An in-depth U.S. Geological Survey study found that approximately 75 percent of stream water and about 40 percent of all groundwater samples from agricultural areas contained atrazine. NRDC found that the U.S. EPA's inadequate monitoring systems and weak regulations allow levels of atrazine in water to peak at extremely high concentrations without issuing a public health warning.

But low concentrations are equally concerning, particularly the effect of atrazine exposure on the developing systems of newborns and young children. Even at concentrations meeting current federal standards, the chemical may pose a risk for pregnant women. During brief but critical windows of fetal development, especially as pregnant women are told to drink lots of water, atrazine exposure may be associated with birth defects — including skull and facial malformations and misshapen limbs — as well as low birth weights, premature births, and subsequent menstrual problems.

"Our biggest concern is early-life-stage development," NRDC senior scientist Jennifer Sass told the Washington Post. "If there's a disruption during that time, it becomes hard-wired into the system. These endocrine disrupters act in the body at extremely low levels. These spikes matter."

According to the NRDC Report:

Concentrations as low as 0.1 ppb have been shown to alter the development of sex characteristics in male frogs, resulting in male frogs with female sex characteristics, hermaphroditism and the presence of eggs in male frog testes. When exposure coincides with the development of the brain and reproductive organs, that timing may be even more critical than the dose.

Syngenta, the Swiss manufacturing giant that produces atrazine, has funded most of the studies supporting its safety (the Swiss government remains unconvinced – atrazine is banned in the manufacturer’s home country). Syngenta scientists called the NRDC study alarmist and said the spikes fall within safe limits.

But the collusion runs deeper, as the NRDC revealed:

In designing its watershed monitoring program, the EPA and the manufacturer, Syngenta, in a secretly negotiated agreement, chose to examine just 40 watersheds for atrazine levels, after determining that atrazine concentrations in these watersheds would be statistically representative of the 1,172 most vulnerable watersheds in the country.

Indeed, based on the results of its watershed monitoring program, the EPA itself preliminarily estimated that 101 (9 percent) of the 1,172 watersheds would exceed the (inadequate) level of concern for atrazine contamination and would require risk mitigation measures. To date the EPA has still not ordered mitigation steps in these watersheds.

Under the Safe Drinking Water Act, testing for chemicals in municipal water supplies occurs quarterly. The EPA considers an annual average atrazine level below 3 parts per billion as safe for human consumption. But EPA data from 139 municipal water systems found that atrazine was present 90 percent of the time and that 54 water systems had one-time spikes above 3 parts per billion in 2003 and 2004, according to an analysis by the NRDC.

The White House responded via Steve Owens, assistant administrator for the EPA's office of prevention, pesticides and toxic substances, who stated:

"The Obama EPA will take a hard look at atrazine and other substances," he said. "This thorough review will rely on transparency and sound science, including independent scientific peer review. We will continue to closely track new scientific developments and will determine whether a change in our regulatory position is appropriate."

Here’s what you can do to limit your family’s exposure to atrazine through the water supply:

1. Call Your Water Utility and Demand Answers.

Help NRDC learn more about water treatment in your area by calling your utility and submitting this online form.

2. Filter Your Home’s Water Supply

Learn about the contaminants in our water supply by reading NRDC’s Guide to Choosing the Right Filter, then cross reference the information your local municipality provided to figure out what you need. Find a wide variety of water filters in Shop Healthy!

Image Courtesy of Larry Eason

Print this page | Email a friend