EPA to review health risk from popular weed killer

The Environmental Protection Agency said Wednesday that it will re-evaluate the health effects of a popular weed killer that has been found in drinking water supplies. The EPA will take another look at the science on atrazine, a herbicide commonly used on corn and other crops, and decide whether further restrictions are needed to protect human health. Research has shown that runoff after rain storms can wash the chemical into streams and rivers, where it can enter drinking water supplies. EPA monitoring of 150 drinking water systems in the Midwest, where the chemical is most heavily used, have not detected it at concentrations that would trigger health problems, including cancer. But new studies have shown that even at low levels atrazine in drinking water can cause low birth weights, birth defects and reproductive problems. In 2003, under the Bush administration, the EPA allowed atrazine to continue to be used with few restrictions...read more