Atrazine is banned in 60 countries after being linked to birth defects and cancer
Environmental groups are pressuring the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in federal court to complete its review onthe dangers of the pesticide atrazine, which could lead to a ban of the chemical.
Atrazine is already banned in 60 countries after it was found to pollute water and have links to birth defects, cancer and fertility problems,nonprofit Center for Food Safety said Wednesday.
But atrazine remains the second-most-widely-used herbicide in the U.S, the Center for Food Safety said.
Environmentalists said the Biden administrationdelayed its court-mandatedreview of atrazine danger's to wildlife for more than threeyears and the responsibility now falls to the Trump administration.
"The Trump administration has the opportunity, right now, to undo decades of cowardly inaction on atrazine and create a sweeping, signature achievement for everyone's health by banning this nasty stuff,"said Nathan Donley, environmental health science director at the Center for Biological Diversity, in a press release.
Nothing short of a complete ban ...
"Nothing short of a complete ban on atrazine will end the harm this extraordinarily dangerous pesticide is doing to human health and the thousands of waterways it has poisoned," he added.
Atrazine has also found critics amongTrump's supporters, including commentator Alex Jones, who said it turned frogs gay, and recently-confirmed Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who said it was contributing to gender confusion among young people.
The EPA didn't immediately respond to ConsumerAffairs's request for comment.
Nearly 90% of atrazine is sprayed on corn people don't eat that is fed to animals, said George Kimbrell, legal director at Center for Food Safety and attorneyon the case, in a press release.
"Atrazine is not necessary to grow healthy food or help farmers, making its continued use and the delay of judicial review of its unlawful approval all the more infuriating," he said.
Email Dieter Holger at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
Posted: 2025-02-19 21:53:25
