The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has released a draft ecological risk assessment on the pesticide atrazine which is being criticized by the makers and users of the important crop protection chemical. In issuing the report, EPA opened the docket for a 60-day public comment period within one week and stated that a Scientific Advisory Panel (SAP) on atrazine will be held in 2017.
Atrazine manufacturer Syngenta issued a statement saying the report “contains numerous data and methodological errors and needs to be corrected.”
“We’re troubled the draft assessment discounted several rigorous, high-quality scientific studies and didn’t adhere to EPA’s own high standards,” said Marian Stypa, Ph.D., head, product development for Syngenta in North America. “The draft report erroneously and improperly estimated atrazine’s levels of concern for birds, fish, mammals and aquatic communities that are not supported by science.”
The herbicide has been used by U.S. corn, sorghum and sugarcane growers for over 50 years and National Corn Growers Association president Chip Bowling says it is both safe and effective.
“It is widely used because it is among the most reliable herbicides available, and it plays a critical role in combating the spread of resistant weeds,” says Bowling. “It reduces soil erosion, increases crop yields, and improves wildlife habits. Over the last 50 years, atrazine has passed some of the most rigorous safety testing in the world. More than 7,000 scientific studies have found atrazine to be safe.”
Bowling adds that losing atrazine could cost corn farmers up to $59 per acre, according to a 2012 study by the University of Chicago. “In the coming weeks, we will be urging farmers and others who care about our rural economy to contact the EPA, and tell them to base their decision on sound science,” he said.
The 520-page EPA report determined that aquatic plants are impacted where atrazine use is heaviest – mainly in the Midwest – and there is “potential chronic risk” to fish and amphibians, as well as “risk concerns for mammals, birds, reptiles, plants, and plant communities.”