Australia
The Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority concluded an extensive review of atrazine in 2008 and continues to be satisfied that it can be safely used in Australia, subject to those conditions outlined on product labels.
Tighter regulations for the use of atrazine have been introduced by the APVMA since 1997, including the cancellation of industrial and non-agricultural uses and a range of label instructions designed to reduce the risk of atrazine entering waterways. For more information, see the full details of the atrazine review.
In Australia, the APVMA and its advising agencies (the Office of Chemical Safety and Environmental Health in the Department of Health and Ageing; and the Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities) regularly consider new atrazine studies as they become available. In 2010, for example, the APVMA commissioned OCSEH to assess data published at that time suggesting that atrazine might be responsible for adverse reproductive and developmental effects in humans through an endocrine mode-of-action (MOA). The report, published in June 2010, found that these concerns did not lead to any amendment to the existing human health risk assessment.
See the full report – Atrazine Toxicity: Analysis of Potential Modes of Action (PDF, 633kb).
Two additional studies of particular note that were reviewed in 2010 were one suggesting that atrazine might be associated with the birth defect (gastroschisis) and another linking atrazine to feminization of frogs. The advice the APVMA received was that neither provided evidence that would warrant a reconsideration of the APVMA’s regulatory settings.
See the full copies of these reports:
- Agricultural-related chemical exposures, season of conception, and risk of gastroschisis in Washington State (external site)
- Hermaphroditic, demasculinized frogs after exposure to the herbicide atrazine at low ecologically relevant doses
NSW Government – Review of Gastroschisis on the NSW North Coast
For more information on Australia’s regulation of atrazine, please visit http://www.apvma.gov.au/news_media/chemicals/atrazine.php
