U.S. Congressman Renews Attempts to Ban Controversial Herbicide Atrazine A member of Congress is seeking to ban one of the nation's most widely-used herbicides, which has turned up in drinking water in some states. Rep. Keith Ellison (D-Minn.) is for the second time proposing legislation that would outlaw any use or trade of atrazine.
Atrazine is most commonly sprayed on cornfields, and can run off into rivers and streams that supply drinking water. As the Huffington Post Investigative Fund reported in a series of articles last fall, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency failed to warn the public that the weed-killer had been found at levels above federal safety limits in drinking water in at least four states. A coalition of Midwestern communities -- along with the nation's largest private water utility -- is suing atrazine's manufacturer, Syngenta, seeking to have it pay to filter the chemical from public water.
Have to look up which elected officials stopped Ellison's first attempt and who will stand in his way this time. One thing is for sure, we will all know that those who derailed the first attempt love their wallets rather than their constituent's lives.
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3 comments:
Atrazine is prepared from cyanuric chloride, which is treated sequentially with ethylamine and isopropyl amine. Like other triazine herbicides, atrazine functions by binding to the plastoquinone-binding protein in photosystem II, which animals lack.
Atrazine is commonly used to kill weeds on highway and railroad right-of-ways or swales. After atrazine is applied, it will remain in the soil for several days to several months.
Atrazine is found in more than 50 agricultural herbicide products. It's an economical way for farmers to keep weeds out of their sugar cane, corn, sorghum and other crops.
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