Atrazine Contamination

Atrazine is typically used for weed control but there is need for atrazine risk assessment. This product has been banned in some places.

The EPA lists the following Health Effects.

Short-term: EPA has found atrazine to potentially cause the following health effects when people are exposed to it at levels above the MCL for relatively short periods of time: congestion of heart, lungs and kidneys; low blood pressure; muscle spasms; weight loss; damage to adrenal glands.

Long-term: Atrazine has the potential to cause the following effects from a lifetime exposure at levels above the MCL: weight loss, cardiovascular damage, retinal and some muscle degeneration; cancer.

The EPA states: "Atrazine is not likely to be taken up in the tissues of plants or animals." This is very confusing considering its statement on health risks.

The following article is from US Dept. of the Interior, US Geological Survey:  Remediationof Atrazine Contamination in Municipal Drinking Water.

Atrazine is a widely used herbicide for the control of broad-leaf weeds. It is the predominant member of a broad class of s-triazine herbicides which are used to control weeds in corn, sorghum and other crops. Atrazine is relatively persistent in soils with an average half-life ranging from 4 to 57 weeks. Several studies concerning the environmental fate of atrazine have shown that atrazine is transformed relatively slowly in the environment. Because of its widespread use over the last thirty years, for both selective and nonselective weed control, atrazine and other s-triazine derivatives have been detected in soils and in ground and surface water in most states in the Midwestern U.S. Atrazine has been shown to move from point of application in runoff water, and eventually makes its way to surface waters. The median concentration of atrazine in 132 streams during post-planting periods was 3.8 ppb, which exceeds the EPA maximum contaminant level goal for this herbicide (3.0 ppb). Consequently, many community water supplies in the Midwestern corn belt may be in violation of the revised Safe Drinking Water Act with respect to atrazine and other triazine herbicides.

Many small drinking water treatment plants in the Midwest and other regions of the U.S. are not equipped to eliminate atrazine from drinking water, since removal of atrazine from ground and drinking water requires expensive chemical adsorption procedur es, usually using activated charcoal. However, federal mandates, health concerns, and public interest requires that potable drinking not contain more than 3 ppb of atrazine. Consequently, rapid, inexpensive, and effective atrazine removal from drinking wa ter supplies is needed. The research proposed below addresses this major national problem by developing an effective atrazine remediation technology. While results from initial research studies will be targeted towards small municipal drinking water suppl iers, the technology to be developed will be equally useful for larger municipal suppliers of drinking water. If successful, this proposed technology will address these concerns by providing an effective and inexpensive method to remove atrazine from drinking water.

Source for full article: Remediation of Atrazine Contamination in Municipal Drinking Water