While perhaps I shouldn’t be, I am often surprised to hear from folks that if the EPA allows a pesticide to be registered it’s ok to use it. As I look at it just because a product is registered by the EPA it doesn’t mean that it’s safe. There are a number of examples of products that have been in use and then later the EPA has identified potential human health effects that result in a product being banned or “phased out”.
The most recent example of a product to come to my attention that appears to have significant risks with its use is Atrazine. Atrazine manufactured by Syngenta is used to control broad leaf weeds and annual grasses in crops, golf courses and residential lawns. It can be found in products from the Scotts Company and other lawn fertilizer manufacturers.
The following excerpt is from an article Pesticide Atrazine Can Turn Male Frogs Into Females ScienceDaily (Mar. 1, 2010) — Atrazine, one of the world’s most widely used pesticides, wreaks havoc with the sex lives of adult male frogs, emasculating three-quarters of them and turning one in 10 into females, according to a new study by University of California, Berkeley, biologists. Click to read the article . . .
Citation: University of California – Berkeley (2010, March 1). Pesticide atrazine can turn male frogs into females. ScienceDaily. Retrieved August 20, 2010, from http://www.sciencedaily.com /releases/2010/03/100301151927.htm