February 5, 2003

The Environmental Protection Agency has decided that atrazine, a widely used herbicide in production agriculture, is safe, if used properly. EPA concluded that atrazine may continue to be used, provided all the precautions and the new specific measures are implemented to reduce risks to drinking water.

EPA said the new measures will help ensure the continued protection of drinking water. The agency has concluded that risks associated with exposures from food are not of concern. Exposure from residential uses and exposure to workers are low and have been addressed by changes in product use conditions.

The program announced involves intensive, targeted monitoring of raw water entering certain community water systems in areas of atrazine use. Under conditions spelled out in the document, when atrazine is detected in water above EPA safety standards the use will be prohibited in that specific watershed area. These and other measures are contained in EPA's "Interim Reregistration Eligibility Decision" (IRED), the result of several years of concentrated analysis of the best and most recently available scientific studies.

"After the most extensive analysis ever conducted on atrazine, EPA has designed a protective, early alert system to implement rigorous monitoring and fine-tuned safeguards to protect drinking water in the communities where atrazine is used," said Stephen L. Johnson, EPA's Assistant Administrator for the Office of Prevention, Pesticides, and Toxic Substances. "For the most vulnerable watersheds, if the testing shows higher levels of atrazine than we consider acceptable, use of the product will be prohibited in that area."

The National Corn Growers Association (NCGA) hailed the decision as a "triumph." Atrazine is particularly important to corn growers. About 76 million pounds of the product is used each year, most of it on corn.

"EPA's acceptance of watershed-based monitoring and management is a victory for growers," said NCGA President Fred Yoder. "Corn growers have long supported locally led solutions to water quality problems. It is gratifying to see EPA acting on growers' first-hand experience, years of study and volumes of research to address potential problems that we know cannot be solved by regulations written and implemented in Washington, D.C."