US EPA reapproves atrazine

After reviewing the risks of atrazine for more than 7 years, the US Environmental Protection Agency says the widely used herbicide can stay on the market with some new restrictions. EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler announced this final decision on Sept. 18, during an event in Missouri attended by farm-group leaders and local lawmakers.

Atrazine is one of the most commonly used herbicides in the US. Farmers spray it on crops such as corn, sorghum, and sugarcane to control grasses and broadleaf weeds. Consumers apply it to residential lawns to kill weeds. Atrazine persists in the environment and is a widespread drinking water contaminant. The herbicide and its breakdown products are linked to developmental and reproductive toxicity in people and aquatic organisms.

The EPA concluded in 2018 that combined exposure to atrazine from food, drinking water, and residential lawns poses developmental risks to children. In 2016, the agency found reproductive risks to wildlife.

To address the risks to children, the EPA is lowering the amount of atrazine that can be applied to residential lawns. The agency is also requiring workers who apply the herbicide to wear respirators to minimize their exposure.

To reduce herbicide drift into water bodies, the EPA is requiring control of spray drift. For example, spraying is prohibited during temperature inversions and when wind speeds exceed 24 km per hour. Manufacturers are required to update the language on atrazine product labels to reflect the new restrictions.

Environmental and consumer advocacy groups claim that the EPA’s decision will lead to more atrazine in US water bodies and leave children unprotected. “EPA’s decision to reapprove atrazine continues an unlawful pattern by the Trump administration of approving toxic pesticides without rigorously analyzing or accounting for their harmful effects,” Sylvia Wu, a senior attorney at the Center for Food Safety, says in a statement.

Farmers welcome an end to the uncertainty over the use of atrazine in the US. The agency’s decision “provides much needed regulatory certainty for farmers during a time when few things are certain,” Gary Marshall, CEO of the Missouri Corn Growers Association, says in a statement released by the EPA.

The EPA is imposing the new restrictions while it reviews the risks of atrazine on endangered species. The agency expects to complete that work in 2021. In anticipation of future restrictions related to endangered species risks, pesticide manufacturer Syngenta is canceling use of atrazine in Hawaii, Puerto Rico, and US territories, as well as all uses of the herbicide on conifers and roadsides.—.