Atrazine Regulation
Atrazine use is regulated throughout the world. See how below:
Timeline
1959: U.S. regulators approve atrazine.
Late 1980s: Atrazine classified as “possible human carcinogen” after research on one species of rat.
Early 1990s: Atrazine in the environment drops significantly after stewardship programs introduced.
1994: EPA Special Advisory Panel reviews safety of triazine products, reviewing hundreds of studies and more than 80,000 public comments.
1998: World Health Organization’s International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) re-categorizes atrazine as “not classifiable as to carcinogenicity in humans.”
2000, 2001: An EPA Special Advisory Panel, then the full EPA, say atrazine is not likely to cause cancer, after finding 1980s research not relevant to humans.
2003: EPA’s Interim Re-registration Eligibility Decision reconfirms the safety of atrazine, after public forums, tens of thousands of public comments, and input from environmentalists, manufacturers and consumers.
2003: After reviewing dozens of studies, including four by Prof. Tyrone Hayes, EPA Science Advisory Panel rules evidence inconclusive on whether atrazine exposure affects amphibian life.
2006: EPA releases Trianzine Cumulative Risk Assessment, finding triazine herbicides (one of which is atrazine) pose “no harm that would result to the general U.S. population, infants, children or other … consumers.”
2007: EPA issues White Paper on recent amphibian research, saying there is “no compelling reason to pursue more testing” on the question of the effect of atrazine on amphibian life.
2007: Independent Science Advisory Panel meets to review and comment on the ecological monitoring program for atrazine.
2007: A Joint meeting of the Food and Agriculture Organization and the World Health Organization on pesticide residues concludes that atrazine is not likely to pose a risk of cancer to humans.
2009: EPA announces new investigation into safety of atrazine.
