Atrazine-Killing weeds. Destroying bodies.

Atrazine is used to impede pre- and post-emergence broadleaf and grassy weeds in major crops through-out the world. Atrazine is also used in many industrial processes, such as some dyes and explosives. It was banned in the European Union in 2004 because of its persistent ground water pollution. However, Atrazine is one of the most widely used herbicides in the United States, with 76 million pounds applied each year. It has even been said by Tyrone Hayes, a scientist at UC Berkeley whom found evidence in which Atrazine is causing male frogs testosterone levels to reach below females.

Another recent study in February 2008 reported that young tadpoles undergoing organ morphogenesis were found to develop deformed hearts, impaired kidneys and digestive systems when exposed to Atrazine. During the summer of 2001, NRDC discovered that Syngenta had been tracking prostate cancer in the employees of its St. Gabriel, Louisiana Atrazine plant. When on there lunch break, workers would eat in areas covered with Atrazine dust. Some workers recall there supervisors telling them that Atrazine could be eaten without any adverse health effects.

Since no one really knows how dangerous it is, some large water companies test for Atrazine in their water supplies and filter it. However, smaller companies often do not. The excellent news is that a simple activated carbon-based water filter; like the ones usually available in your neighborhood grocery stores and elsewhere that comes in pitcher and faucet-mount varieties can filter Atrazine from your drinking water. So its better to play it safe, rather then be risky.

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