Atrazine contaminates a quarter of rivers and streams in the USA

According to a study by the Center for Biological Diversity, atrazine is widely used in the cultivation of corn, soybean, sorghum, and sugarcane, especially in agricultural states. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), atrazine is the second most popular herbicide in the country after glyphosate: farmers use about 70 million pounds of this product annually. Exposure to the pesticide is linked to birth defects, low birth weight, hormonal disruptions, immune system problems, and certain types of cancer. The product also acts as an endocrine disruptor.

The analysis is based on EPA data on waterways in the lower 48 states. Scientists recorded atrazine levels exceeding the harm threshold for river ecosystems (9.7 parts per billion). It turned out that contaminated watersheds cover 258,451,869 acres out of 1,928,393,471 acres in the continental U.S. (13%), with contamination concentrated in such "hot spots" as the Chesapeake Bay, the Midwestern Corn Belt, Lake Okeechobee, the Lower Mississippi, and the Texas Gulf Coast. About 22% of the country's public drinking water systems draw water from surface sources in polluted rivers.

Nathan Donley of the Center for Biological Diversity noted the scale of contamination from a single pesticide and pointed to the EPA's failure to implement protective measures. According to Dana Kolpin, a hydrologist with the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), the agricultural states of the Midwest (Kansas, Nebraska, Iowa, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio) have remained at the center of contamination for decades, where elevated concentrations of the substance are recorded in more than two-thirds of rivers. The peak of contamination is observed after spring rains, when the product is washed into water bodies.

Currently, the EPA is re-registering atrazine, signaling its intention to continue its use. In December, the agency rejected the findings of the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) of the World Health Organization, which classified atrazine as a substance likely carcinogenic to humans. An EPA representative stated that the IARC has a history of flawed conclusions, and available data do not support a link between atrazine and human cancer. In April, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) also concluded that the pesticide does not pose an extinction threat to protected species.