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EPA Proposal Guts Curbs On Toxic Herbicide Linked To Birth Defects

"Environmental and public health advocacy groups expressed alarm Friday after the Trump administration moved to increase the allowable level in U.S. waterways of a common herbicide linked to hermaphroditic amphibians and birth defects, cancer, and other harmful health effects in humans.

At issue in the proposal posted yesterday by the EPA is the threshold level of atrazine, the second most widely used herbicide in the U.S. Manufactured by Syngenta, atrazine is primarily used in agriculture as a weedkiller on crops. It is not authorized for use in the European Union, as the body said there wasn't enough data to prove it wouldn't have a harmful effect on groundwater.

'Human exposure to atrazine is linked to a number of serious health effects,' according to a factsheet from Pesticide Action Network. 'A potent endocrine disrupter, atrazine interferes with hormonal activity of animals and humans at extremely low doses.'"

Andrea Germanos reports for Salon November 17, 2019.

Source: Salon, 11/18/2019