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Science Forum Index » Agriculture Forum » EU says "No" to Atrazine, But Not to Paraquat
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 Posted: Sun Oct 26, 2003 5:00 pm |
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P A N U P S
Pesticide Action Network Updates Service
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EU says "No" to Atrazine, But Not to Paraquat
October 24, 2003
In a move that is likely to have a worldwide impact on herbicide use,
the European Union has withdrawn regulatory approval for the widely
used herbicide, atrazine, due to groundwater contamination. Several
countries in the EU, including France, Denmark, Germany, Norway and
Sweden had already banned the herbicide, which is manufactured by
Syngenta. In response, Syngenta has announced that it is already
offering alternatives to this product in Germany and Italy, and would
extend those products to the rest of the EU.
Atrazine, a triazine broadleaf herbicide, is the most used herbicide
in the U.S., where more than 60 million pounds are applied each year,
mostly to corn. In the U.S. it is also used on sorghum (a cereal
grain), sugarcane, Christmas trees, woodlands and golf courses. In
2002, two studies raised new concerns about the herbicide, one
connecting extremely low levels of atrazine with sexual abnormalities
in frogs, and another pointing to increased prostrate cancer among
atrazine production workers. Traces of atrazine are found routinely in
streams, ponds and lakes within the U.S. "There seems to be no
atrazine-free environment," said University of California Berkeley
researcher Tyrone Hayes, author of the study on frogs.
Both studies surfaced as the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
(U.S. EPA) was finalizing an ecological risk assessment for atrazine.
Yet despite these findings, and the fact that its own seasonal water
quality risk estimates were above "acceptable" levels, U.S. EPA
re-approved the registration of atrazine in January, 2003. It also
mandated a program of weekly water quality monitoring to be conducted
seasonally by Syngenta in areas of high atrazine use.
In another decision, the EU has decided not to prohibit another
controversial Syngenta herbicide, paraquat, which is already banned or
severely restricted in eleven countries, including five EU member
nations. This decision has put the fate of such pre-existing national
bans in question, raising serious concerns by member states about
their ability to protect the health of their citizens and environment
from pesticide damage at the national level. A notorious occupational
poison, paraquat has been on the PAN International list of "Dirty
Dozen" pesticides since 1985. Due to its' high toxicity, absence of
antidote, easy availability and danger to workers and the public,
especially in developing countries, an international campaign to end
Syngenta's production and sale of paraquat is now underway.
Sources: Terra Wire, EU withdraws approval for potentially harmful
herbicide atrazine, Switzerland, Oct 05, 2003; Time's Up for
Atrazine?, PANNA, Global Pesticide Campaigner, August 2002; Atrazine
Facts; PANNA website, http://www.panna.org; First Binding Controls of
PIC and POPs U PAN UK, http://217.154.68.186/pestnews/pn40/pn40p5.htm;
Syngenta Press Release, EU Registration of Atrazine Not Granted
Despite Favorable Science Review,
http://www.syngenta.com/en/media/article.aspx?article_id=325 Web site;
Paraquat, Syngenta's Controversial Herbicide, Berne Declaration,
Swedish Society for Nature Conservation, PAN UK, PAN Asia Pacific,
Foro Emaús, 2002. |
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