Cities Sue Manufacturer of Weed-Killer Found in Tap Water | CommonDreams.org
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- jkw077
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Atrazine, a weed-killer sprayed primarily on cornfields, can run off into rivers and streams that supply municipal water systems. As the Huffington Post Investigative Fund reported in a series of articles last fall, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency failed to notify the public that atrazine had been found at levels above the federal safety limit in drinking water in at least four states.
The lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Illinois by 16 cities in Kansas, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Missouri, and Iowa. The communities allege that Swiss corporation Syngenta AG and its Delaware counterpart Syngenta Crop Protection, Inc. reaped billions of dollars from the sale of atrazine while local taxpayers were left with the financial burden of filtering the chemical from drinking water.
Atrazine has long been a controversial product. The European Union in 2004 banned its use, saying there was not enough information to prove its safety. The EPA recently announced that it would be re-evaluating the herbicide's ability to cause cancer and birth defects, as well as its potential to disrupt the hormone and reproductive systems of humans and amphibians.
Last week, a study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science reported that male frogs exposed to levels of atrazine below federal limits could become functional females, with the ability to mate and lay eggs.
The lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Illinois by 16 cities in Kansas, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Missouri, and Iowa. The communities allege that Swiss corporation Syngenta AG and its Delaware counterpart Syngenta Crop Protection, Inc. reaped billions of dollars from the sale of atrazine while local taxpayers were left with the financial burden of filtering the chemical from drinking water.
Atrazine has long been a controversial product. The European Union in 2004 banned its use, saying there was not enough information to prove its safety. The EPA recently announced that it would be re-evaluating the herbicide's ability to cause cancer and birth defects, as well as its potential to disrupt the hormone and reproductive systems of humans and amphibians.
Last week, a study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science reported that male frogs exposed to levels of atrazine below federal limits could become functional females, with the ability to mate and lay eggs.
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CalgarC
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Hurray... we are taking on the food and crop industry :D
- 1 year ago
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CalgarC
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bailey78
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well if that don't beat all. Every where ya look somebody or something is trying to kill Ya.
- 1 year ago
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bailey78
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Chapisbored
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Gross. Something needs to change. That shouldn't happen.
- 1 year ago
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Chapisbored
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artemis6
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Good luck !
- 1 year ago
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artemis6
