Atrazine

Definition

Atrazine is an herbicide and pesticide used to treat and prevent weeds in a variety of crops. It is one of the most widely used agricultural pesticides in the US.

Health considerations

A variety of animal studies have been performed with atrazine. Studies in rodents show it to be an endocrine disruptor that inhibits testosterone production in males; that disrupts the communication between the brain, the pituitary gland, and the ovaries in females, affecting hormone production; that alters thyroid function and levels of corticosteroid hormones at concentrations expected in groundwater. It also induces a variety of tumors in mice and rats and has been associated with ovarian cancer. Atrazine has been implicated as an obesogen associated with increased mass and insulin resistance.

Keep in mind

Atrazine is one of the most widely used herbicides in Australia. It is banned from use in the European Union in 2004 due to groundwater contamination. Atrazine is reported as one of the most common pesticide contaminants of drinking water.

May be found in

Water. Products using: sorghum, corn, sugarcane, canola, lupin beans

References

Reproductive Toxicology
Toxicological Sciences
Toxicol Ind Health
CrossMark
Annual Review of Public Health
USGS

Alternative Spellings and Names

European Commission IHCP
Environmental Health Perspectives

Alternative Spellings and Names

1-Chloro-3-ethylamino-5-isopropylamino-2,4,6-triazine