Atrazine. What you need to know.

Atrazine is one of the most widely used herbicides in the world. Primarily used on corn crops and golf courses, it has been sprayed every year for over 50 years on crops across North America. The United States used over 76 million pounds of atrazine in 2014 alone.

Why is this relevant?
Well, due to our widespread atrazine use, herbicide runoff from crops is making its way into our drinking water sources. It’s the number one contaminant of drinking water in the US.

Health Canada classifies atrazine as possibly carcinogenic to humans, and has set an allowable amount as safe for human consumption. In Canada the acceptable amount is 5ppb (parts per billion), in the US the level is set at 3 ppb.

Sweet, the government says it’s only possibly cancer causing to us humans, so we’re good to go right? Well hold on a second. The EU actually banned all use of atrazine back in 2004 because they felt there were unsafe levels of atrazine in water sources.

So, what makes it safer in North America but not in Europe? Nothing really. Here’s what has got the EU so concerned…

There is evidence to suggest atrazine may increase your risk to certain cancers like breast and prostate cancer. Studies also show a link between atrazine, low fertility rates and low sperm count in males. Unfortunately many of the effects of atrazine, whether its cancer or lower fertility, don’t become obvious until later on in life, once you’ve reached adulthood.

The fact that the federal government has decided that this substance should be regulated, and that exceeding the maximum allowable amount is dangerous is enough to get me to go out and buy a water filter (tap water ftw, remember that bottled water is probably coming from the same source as your tap water anyways…)

Also, there’s this research on atrazine and frogs…
Atrazine can cause male frogs to become hermaphroditic. Yeah. Just gonna let that sink in. There have even been documented instances of boy frogs becoming girl frogs. Even if it turns out that atrazine doesn’t have harmful effects to humans I still wouldn’t want to be drinking that stuff, ugh.

If you have the choice, which now you do, why would you subject yourself to drinking water that is likely contaminated with atrazine, among other things (fertilizers, arsenic, lead… the world is a scary place out there). Do yourself a favour, go out and buy a filter.