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WASHINGTON, DC, September 11, 2007 (ENS) - New federal water quality data obtained by the Natural Resources Defense Council, NRDC, confirms high levels of the carcinogenic pesticide Atrazine in Midwest drinking water supplies.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, EPA, data shows raised Atrazine levels in 94 of 136 water systems tested at the source. Tests were conducted in Indiana, Ohio, Iowa, Kentucky, Minnesota and Nebraska.
NRDC researchers evaluated new Atrazine monitoring data collected by the EPA through two monitoring programs implemented from 2003 to 2006, primarily in Midwest states.
Ecological monitoring in 10 states shows that nearly all of 40 monitored watersheds had Atrazine concentrations at levels known to harm aquatic habitat and cause reproductive abnormalities in fish and amphibians.
Between 1998 and 2003, more than seven million Americans were served drinking water with Atrazine at levels that exceed the current federal tap water standard, the NRDC says.
Atrazine is a white, crystalline solid organic compound. It is a widely used herbicide for control of broadleaf and grassy weeds. Atrazine was estimated to be the most heavily used herbicide in the United States in the years 1987 to 1989, with its most extensive use for corn and soybeans in Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, Ohio, Texas, and Wisconsin. Effective in 1993, its uses were greatly restricted, according to the EPA.
Human exposure to Atrazine has been associated with multiple forms of cancer, including lung, bladder, non-Hodgkin lymphoma, leukemia, multiple myeloma, ovarian, and colon cancer.
"Atrazine contamination in the Midwest is pervasive, hazardous, and unnecessary," said Jonathan Kaplan, senior policy specialist with NRDC. "Congress should use the Farm Bill to provide farmers with the tools and incentives they need to maximize pest control alternatives. Pending Farm Bill legislation actually protects the most hazardous pesticides."
Farm Bill legislation approved by the House, expected to be considered by the Senate later this month, would make it nearly impossible for the U.S. Department of Agriculture to encourage farmers to use environmentally friendly pesticide choices through conservation programs, the environmental group says.
NRDC research finds that only three percent of the $800 million paid to farmers in 2005 was allocated to pest-control projects. The allocation was lower, or zero, in many Midwestern states with pervasive Atrazine contamination.
The EPA's regulation for Atrazine became effective in 1992. Between 1993 and 1995, EPA required water suppliers to collect water samples every three months for one year and analyze them to find out if atrazine was present above one part per billion. If it was present above this level the system must continue to monitor this contaminant.
If contaminant levels are found to be consistently above the allowed level, water suppliers must take steps to reduce the amount of atrazine so that it is consistently below that level by removing it with granular activated charcoal.
