The New York Times ran an interesting online article on Saturday sounding the alarm about controversial levels of popular chemical weed control atrazine in drinking water. Citing new studies that indicate atrazine may be dangerous at lower levels than once thought, the article states that, in addition to alarming spikes in atrazine concentration, drinking water is basically unsafe at current tolerances.
The article is interesting but it seems like just another scary story about the dangers lurking around every corner - even in your tap. It's easy to grow weary in the fight to stay safe and informed. Sometimes articles like this make me want to hide under my bed and never come out.
I decided to research atrazine a little bit. The first sponsored link in a Google search was for Syngenta, the chemical giant that manufactures most of the atrazine used in America. Their celebration of atrazine was surprisingly informative albeit lacking any criticism of atrazine and a general theme of "better living through chemistry". The second sponsored link was a heated response to the Times article by The American Council on Science and Health (ACSH). The article was reactionary, defensive, and made me highly suspicious of their motives and financial backers. Looking deeper into their sight I found articles defending all sorts of controversial practices, all in the name of science.
Indeed atrazine is a widespread herbicide, used to control weeds mainly among corn and sorghum producers. In fact many farmers rely on it to produce maximum yields and argue that they couldn't feed and fuel the world without it. However, I have been in the turf industry for 20 years and been a licensed pesticide applicator for 14 years at golf courses, lawn care services and property management companies. I have never seen or applied atrazine to turf, many other questionable products but not atrazine. Hopefully that's an indicator that atrazine is at least not as prevalent in the turf industry as the article may have us believe.
The European Union has banned all use of atrazine not because of it's health effects but because it easily contaminates ground water. They haven't even tested it for it's health effects because it is a known groundwater contaminant, end of story. The Syngenta website sees it a little differently though and basically says that the European Union has lower standards than the EPA and uses a similar herbicide with not much different than its name.
What does it all mean? I wish I knew. I'm beginning to feel like herbicides are a really bad thing. I don't need studies to tell me that. However, the massive scale of crop production in this country all but demands chemical inputs. The growing need for corn in products like ethanol, livestock feed, and high fructose corn syrup, ensures that herbicides are probably here to stay. Organic lawn care is one way to ensure you're not contributing any dangerous pesticides to the environment.
Read more:
Debating How Much Weed Killer Is Safe in Your Water Glass - New York Times article
NYT Terrifies Over "Weed Killers" in Water - The American Council on Science and Health article
Atrazine - Celebrating 50 Years - From the Syngenta website
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