Pesticide is found in 75 percent of stream water and 40 percent of all groundwater tested in a study.
A coalition of conservation, sustainable farming, and public health entities have sent a letter to the Environmental Protection Agency asking the agency to ban Atrazine, an endocrine-disrupting pesticide that chemically alters the reproductive organs of certain male frogs.
"With about 250 groups and thousands of people across the United States calling for a ban on Atrazine, we hope the EPA will finally take a stand against the powerful pesticide lobby,” said Collete Adkins Giese of The Center for Biological Diversity. "Atrazine poses an unreasonable, unnecessary risk to our health and the environment, and the EPA needs to ban it — now.”
In their letter, the coalition said that Atrazine should be banned due to "widespread exposure and unreasonable risks to human health and the environment.” The pesticide, which was banned in the European Union in 2004, has been found in 75 percent of stream water and 40 percent of all groundwater samples, according to a February 2007 U.S. Geological Survey. According to the Center, more than 80 million pounds of the pesticide is used in the United States each year, mostly on corn.
Amphibians are more vulnerable due to the fact that most live in and near the very waterways that are often contaminated with the pesticide. Their skin is also permeable so the pesticide is easily absorbed into their bodies. In a University of California study of the African clawed frog (Xenopus laevis), Dr. Tyrone Hayes showed that Atrazine chemically castrated and feminized the frogs at concentrations that were lower than the level that the EPA allows in drinking water. Studies on humans showed that the pesticide may be linked to thyroid cancer, birth defects and harm to the reproductive system. A study in March 2013 suggests that unborn children of pregnant mothers exposed to Atrazine had an increased risk of a birth defect called choanal atresia, which is a narrowing or blockage of the back of the nasal canal in newborns.
A copy of the letter and a list of the groups that signed the letter is below:
August 26, 2013
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
OPP Docket, EPA Docket Center (EPA/DC) (28221T)
1200 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20460–0001
Dear Administrator McCarthy,
We the undersigned organizations are writing to ask the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to ban atrazine, a commonly-used weed killer and toxic chemical that threatens human health and the environment. This dangerous pesticide is the most commonly detected pesticide contaminant of ground, surface, and drinking water.
Atrazine is a powerful endocrine disrupter that is already banned in the European Union.
Atrazine causes complete sex reversal in male frogs at concentrations lower than what the U.S. EPA allows in our drinking water supply. In people, there is reason to be concerned about the potential risk of cancer, reproductive harm, or birth defects.
With such widespread exposure and unreasonable risks to human health and the environment, the U.S. EPA must ban the use of atrazine.
Sincerely,
Action for Animals
Alameda Creek Alliance
Alaska Applied Sciences, Inc.
Alaska Community Action on Toxics
Alaska Wildlife Alliance
Altamaha Riverkeeper
Angelics Organics Learning Center
Animal Legal Defense Fund
Animals Are Sentient Beings, Inc.
Apollo Kauai
Atlantic Energy Ltd
Audubon Society of Corvallis
Audubon Society of New Hampshire
Basel Action Network
Battle Creek Alliance
Berkshire Environmental Action Team (BEAT)
Better Future Project
Big Wildlife (a project of the Earth Island Institute)
Biodiversity Conservation Alliance
Biodynamic Farming and Gardening Association
Black Warrior Riverkeeper
Blue Heron Nature Preserve
Breast Cancer Action
Breast Cancer Fund
Buckeye Forest Council
Buena Vista Audubon Society
Buffalo River Action Team
Burrowing Owl Conservation Network
Cahaba Riverkeeper
California Bluebird Recovery Program
California Oaks
California Wildlife Foundation
Californians for Western Wilderness
Californians for Alternatives to Toxics
Cascades Raptor Center
Cascadia Wildlands
Center for a Sustainable Coast
Certified Naturally Grown
Center for Biological Diversity
Center for Health, Environment & Justice (CHEJ)
Center for Large Landscape Conservation
Center for Sierra Nevada Conservation
Central New Mexico Audubon Society
Chicago Botanic Garden
Chicago Honey Co-op
Choptank Riverkeeper
Citizens Against Ruining the Environment (C.A.R.E. Illinois)
Citizens Campaign for the Environment
Citizens Committee to Complete the Refuge
Citizens’ Environmental Coalition
Citizens for a Sludge-Free Land
Citizens for Safe Water Around Badger (CSWAB)
Citizens for Sanity.com
Citizens of the Karst
Coal River Mountain Watch
Concerned Citizens for Clean Air
Connecticut Coalition for Environmental Justice
Conservation Congress
Conservation Northwest
Coos Waterkeeper
CORALations
Cumberland Countians for Peace & Justice
Desert Protective Council
Eastern Coyote Research
Eastman Environmental
Ebbetts Pass Forest Watch
Eco-Eating
Ecological Internet
Ecology Party of Florida
Eli’s Farms (Danny and Eli Hofshi)
Endangered Habitats League
Endangered Species Coalition
Environment and Human Health, Inc.
Environmental Action Committee of West Marin
Environmental Health Strategy Center (of Maine)
Environmental Protection Information Center (EPIC)
Fairmont, Minnesota Peace Group
FarmedHere, LLC
Flycasters, Inc. of San Jose
Food Democracy Now!
Food Empowerment Project
ForestEthics
Forestland Dwellers
Free Soil Party
Freedom Center for Wildlife, Inc.
Fresno Audubon Society
Friends of Five Creeks
Friends of the Arroyos
Friends of the Creeks
Friends of the Santa Clara River
Friends of the Swainson’s Hawk
Fund for Wild Nature
Gifford Pinchot Task Force
Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives
Global Community Monitor
Global Exchange
Global Justice Ecology Project
Glynn Environmental Coalition
Golden West Women Flyfishers
Grassroots Environmental Education
Great Old Broads for Wilderness
Green America
Green Delaware
Green Environmental Coalition
Green Party of Skagit County
Green Party of Tennessee
Green Sugar Press
Greening Forward
Greenspace-the Cambria Land Trust
Growing Alternative Resource Development and Enterprise Network (G.A.R.D.E.N. Inc.)
Growing Home
Gulf Restoration Network
Healthy Child Healthy World
Hells Canyon Preservation Council
Helping Our Peninsula’s Environment (HOPE)
Hilton Head Island Audubon Society
Independent Environmental Conservation & Activism Network
Institute for Fisheries Resources
Interfaith Council for the Protection of Animals and Nature
Interfaith Declaration on Climate Change
JR Organics CSA/Rodriguez Family Farm
Kauaians for a Bright Energy Future
Kentucky Environmental Foundation
Kern Audubon Society
Kickapoo Peace Circle
Kids vs Global Warming
Klamath Forest Alliance
KS Wild
KyotoUSA
La Purisima Audubon Society
Living Cosmos Society
Living Rivers
LocalHarvest
Long Branch Environmental Education Center
Loon Lake Loon Association
Malama Kauai
Mankato Area Environmentalists
Maricopa Audubon Society
Massachusetts Breast Cancer Coalition
Massachusetts Forest Watch
Maui Tomorrow Foundation
Michael Fields Agricultural Institute
Midshore Riverkeeper Conservancy
Midwest Environmental Advocates
Midwest Latino Health Research, Training and Policy Center
Midwest Organic & Sustainable Education Service (MOSES)
Minnesota River Valley Audubon Chapter (MRVAC)
MOMS Advocating Sustainability
Montana Raptor Conservation Center
Monterey Audubon Society
Monterey Coast Keeper
Morning Sun Foundation
Morro Coast Audubon Society
Mudjoy Farm
National Catholic Rural Life Conference
National Research Center for Women & Families
Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC)
Network for Environmental & Economic Responsibility United Church of Christ
New Century Management
New York Turtle & Tortoise Society
North County Watch
North East Oregon Ecosystems
Northcoast Environmental Center
Northeast Organic Farming Association – Interstate Council (NOFA-IC)
Northeast Organic Farming Association of New York, Inc. (NOFA-NY)
Northern California Council Federation of Flyfishers
Northwest Arkansas Audubon Society
Northwest Center for Alternatives to Pesticides
Northwest Ecological Research Institute
Northwest Environmental Advocates
Northwest Environmental Defense Center
Ocean Outfall Group
One More Generation
Organization for Bat Conservation
Orange County Interfaith Coalition for the Environment
Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen’s Associations (PCFFA)
Parents For a Safer Environment
Peninsula Fly Fishers
Physicians for Social Responsibility
Potomac Riverkeeper
Preserve Wild Santee
Protect All Children’s Environment
Protect All Living Species
Protect Arkansas Wildlife
Rachel Carson Council
Raptor Services, LLC
Red Rock Audubon Society
Redwood Region Audubon Society
Regional Parks Association Berkeley
Religious Witness for the Earth
Rocky Mountain Wild
St. Marys Earthkeepers
Saltilla Riverkeepers
San Diego Audubon
San Fernando Valley Audubon Society
San Luis Obispo Coastkeeper
Santa Clara Valley Audubon Society
Save The Cumberland
Save The Frogs!
SAVE THE PARK
Save Our Sky Blue Waters
SEE Innovation
Sequoia ForestKeeper
Seven Generations Ahead
Sheep Mountain Alliance
Shenandoah Riverkeeper
Slow Food USA
South Florida Audubon Society
South Umpqua Rural Community Partnership
Southwest Environmental Center
Stand Up/Save Lives Campaign
Stewards of the Earth
Sustainable Arizona
Sustainable Sanctuary Coalition
Tennessee Chapter Sierra Club
Tennessee Environmental Council
Tennessee Ornithological Society
The Center for Media and Democracy
The Clinch Coalition
The Land Connection
The Otter Project
The Rewilding Institute
The Tortoise Reserve
The Wild Nature Institute
Thyme For Peace B&B Hideaway and Produce
Toxic Awareness Body of Oregon
Toxics Action Center
Triangle Womens’ International League for Peace and Freedom
TriCounty Watchdog
Tri-City Ecology Center
Tri-Valley CAREs (Communities Against a Radioactive Environment)
Truck Farm Chicago
Turtle Island Restoration Network
Uranium Watch
Ursuline Sisters of Tildonk, U.S. Province
Utah Environmental Congress (UEC)
Valley Watch, Inc.
Virginia Society of Ornithology, Conservation Committee
Wasatch Clean Air Coalition
Watershed Alliance of Marin
Watersheds Stewards Academy
Western Nebraska Resources Council
Western Wildlife Conservancy
WildEarth Guardians
Wild Equity Institute
Wild Fish Conservancy
Wild Heritage Planners
Wild South
Wildlife Rescue and Rehabilitation
Williamsburg Climate Action Network
Winyah Rivers Foundation, Inc.
Women's Community Cancer Project
Women’s Voices for the Earth
Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation
Xun Biosphere Project
Yadkin Riverkeeper
Yellowbilled Tours
Yosemite Area Audubon Society
Zero Waste Kauai
