EPA asked to ban popular herbicide
Atrazine’s maker rejects claims by environmental group

This AP story (via MSNBC) points out many of the problems with Atrazine, which is banned in banned in France, Germany and Italy. The National Resources Defense Council has petitioned to ban its use in the US.

WASHINGTON, June 4 — An environmental group asked the government Monday to ban the use of atrazine, a weedkiller commonly sprayed on cornfields and lawns. The Natural Resources Defense Council filed a petition asking the EPA to take the chemical off the market, charging its leading manufacturer did not properly disclose that 17 workers had developed prostate cancer. The group also said the chemical had been linked to deformities in frogs.

Furthermore, it seems this one of the interesting little compounds that the EPA tested on human subjects, which they're not supposed to do....

NRDC also said EPA’s risk assessment for atrazine violates the agency’s own policy because it relies partly on “an unlawful and unethical experiment in which human volunteers were intentionally exposed to atrazine.”

Of course, the maker of this nasty little herbicide, Swiss-based Syngenta, the world’s biggest agribusiness, claims it's all bunk, and that their product is perfectly safe. The petition calls for an investigation of Syngenta. New EPA rules regarding its use are expected by late summer. Anyone want to bet on what a Bu$h run EPA will do?