Atrazine, the most widely used herbicide in the Midwest, has impacted over 1200 water systems, contaminating drinking water across the United States. Atrazine is mainly used on corn and soybean crops and is popular among farmers because it is effective and relatively inexpensive. The herbicide is only weakly adsorbed to soil particles and, therefore, easily leaves the field in runoff water.
Atrazine poses a health concern because many studies show that the herbicide is an endocrine disruptor. Studies carried out rats and amphibians have linked atrazine with the following responses: delayed uterine growth and vaginal opening in fetal development, alterations in luteinizing hormone and prolactin secrum levels, pregnancy loss, increased incidence of prostate inflammation, disruption of mammary tissue development, reduction of testosterone levels, and disruptions in steroidogenesis which induced hermaphroditism and demasculinization in male amphibians. Several of these effects were at concentrations of 0.1 ppb, well below the 3 ppb MCL for atrazine. Moreover, there may not be a threshold below which there is not a measurable effect for exposure because amphibians exposed to atrazine have displayed a nonmonotonic dose response. Atrazine is currently on the USEPA endocrine disruptor Final List of Initial Pesticide Active Ingredients to be evaluated for impact to estrogen, androgen, or thyroid hormone systems.
Removing atrazine from drinking water can be accomplished through filtration, including powdered activated carbon, granular activated carbon (GAC), and advanced oxidation. GAC is the most effective filtration system for atrazine because it can filter out the chemical to non-detectable levels.
See more of: General Submissions