Carson on Atrazine

Katharine Ryan

Atrazine (C8H14ClN5) is a white crystalline solid. It was first invented in the 1950s by J.R. Giegy Ltd. as
one of the triazines they were developing to fight weeds. In 1958 it was registered for use in the United
States of America (Mergel, Atrazine History). The herbicide is spread over the field and absorbed
by the plants through the roots. In certain plants, the chemical prevents the plant from being able to
carry out photosynthesis. In other plants the chemical is metabolized (Atrazine - Pesticide
Information). This means that when the chemical is sprayed on the field, it will not harm the crop that is
being grown; it will only affect the unwanted plants. It can take between 14 and 21 days for the weeds
to die (Atrazine FAQ).
Its widely used in the Midwest because of its low cost and high effectiveness. This makes it a great
choice for managing the corn production. The problem comes from how much is being used.
Not all the atrazine is absorbed by plants. The wind carries particles with traces of atrazine attached
away from the field. Some leaves the field as run off and ends up in the local water ways. From there it
can be picked up in the rain making it spread father. Traces of atrazine have been detected more than
180 miles away from where it had been applied (Lariviere). Between 1998 and 2003 about 7 million
people were exposed to atrazine (Atrazine Pesticide Action). Scientists have also tested waters for
some atrazines breakdown products which are the products that form as atrazine decomposes and
found that they were present at levels just as high as atrazine in some places. Its still not known what
effects these breakdown products may cause; they could be as harmful as atrazine (Snedeker).
Through their drinking water, people who normally wouldnt have such contact with these kinds of
chemicals are being exposed, a lot of the time without their knowledge of it.
This contamination to the drinking water has a lot of effects.
Atrazine has been proven to affect hormone levels. A broad range of animals, including fish, birds, rats,
and frogs, have been shown to develop female traits when exposed to atrazine.
An experiment was done testing the effect atrazine has on frogs. 40 male African Clawed frogs were put
in water that contained atrazine at 2.5 parts per billion when they were tadpoles. The legal limit for
atrazine in drinking water is 3 parts per billion (Atrazine Pesticide Action). The majority of these frogs
developed low testosterone levels, suppressed mating behavior, reduced sperm production and an
overall decrease in fertility. Some of the frogs were affected even more. Their hormone levels were so
off that these frogs actually become females that were able to mate and lay eggs. The only thing left
unchanged was their genes. So when their eggs hatched, all the tadpoles were males because only male
genes were contributed (Snow).
Another experiment done with rats showed that 15% of a 0.53mg dose of atrazine was still in the rats
tissues 72 hours after being ingested. The chemical was retained mainly in the liver, kidneys and lungs
(Atrazine Pesticide Information).

Its not just harmful to animals; atrazine isnt safe for people either. It can be absorbed into the
bloodstream through oral, dermal, and inhalation exposure (Atrazine Pesticide Information).
Even eating organic food and drinking filtered water can not keep you from the effects of atrazine. A
woman, who was originally from Indiana, lost her unborn daughter from birth defects. These birth
defects included a significant chromosome deletion and an abdominal wall defect. While its true that
these may have not been directly related to the atrazine consumption in this case, atrazine has been
proven to cause similar problems in other children. Atrazine has also been linked to causing cancer,
specifically brain tumors, breast cancer, and prostate cancer (Karvunidis). Exposure to atrazine also
increased the risk of a preterm delivery, intrauterine growth retardation, and decreased birth weight.
(Atrazine Chemical Summary).
If consumed beyond the maximum contamination level for long periods of time, atrazine could also
cause problems in the cardiovascular system or lead the consumer to experience reproductive
difficulties (Basic). Other effects may involve the central nervous system and the immune system. It
may also be associated with some types of non-Hodkins lymphoma in adult humans (Atrazine
Chemical Summary).
Italy and Germany banned the use of atrazine in 1991 after discovering the high concentration of the
herbicide in the drinking water. Since then their corn yields have actually gone up (Atrazine Pesticide
Action).
The European Union banned the use of atrazine in 2004. They cited the water contamination as a reason
for the ban (Sass). They also lowered their legal limit from 3 parts per billion down to 1 part per billion,
which would not be possible to reach if it were in widespread use in the area (Mergel, Atrazine
Regulation). Oher contributing factors could have been the health risk to humans and animals that
have been noted.
After the ban, farmers in Europe switched to terbutylazine, which is another triazine herbicide. The
difference is that terbutylazine breaks done much more quickly than atrazine (Mergel, Atrazine
Regulation). Atrazine has a half-life 146 days in the soil and does not absorb strongly to soil particles,
which makes ground water contamination easier. Compared to terbutylazine which has a half-life of
76.7 days in soil and a higher absorption coefficient (Kegley). These factors keep the amount of triazine
in the water much lower in areas using the latter.
Stopping the use of atrazine in the United States of America would not only be beneficial to the
environment and the animals that live there, but also to the health humans that live near areas where it
is heavily applied. Why use this when there are other alternatives that are safer? Why would Europe
have higher standards for their water than America? Something doesnt seem right about that and it
should be changed. In fact, instead of dealing with the problem, the United States Environmental
Protection Agency proposed to raise the maximum contamination level from 3 parts per billion up to 20
parts per billion (Rayburn). This is the opposite of solving the problem; it only delays it and lets it grow
worse while doing nothing about it. By regulating the pesticide to lower levels that are safer for humans,
it also protects other species from the effects that occur at higher levels of the chemical (Atrazine
Updates).

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