Wednesday, March 10, 2010
Switzerland-based agribusiness Syngenta AG is being sued by 16 American cities and one county water district over the contamination of water supplies by the weed-killer atrazine. The chemical, sprayed on corn fields in the Midwest, has found its way into drinking water used by communities that cannot afford the expensive means to filter atrazine from local groundwater.
A new scientific study has found the chemical can cause frogs to switch genders. The European Union banned its use in 2004 because of uncertainty over the chemical’s safety, while the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is looking into its potential to cause cancer and birth defects.
The lawsuit, filed in federal court in Illinois by 16 cities in Kansas, Illinois, Missouri, Ohio, Indiana, and Iowa, seeks money in part so local water districts can purchase the necessary carbon filters to remove atrazine.
-Noel Brinkerhoff
Cities Sue Manufacturer of Weed-Killer Found in Tap Water (by Danielle Ivory, Huffington Post Investigative Fund)
Study: Weedkiller in Waterways Can Change Frogs' Sex Traits (by David A. Fahrenthold, Washington Post)
EPA, Reversing Bush, to Study Dangers of Weed-Killer Used on Corn and Lawns (by Noel Brinkerhoff, AllGov)
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