[All] Fw: Lake Erie Source Water Protection Committee : re ATRAZINE
jeff stager
shadynook at golden.net
Thu Nov 17 08:50:57 EST 2011
Hi
Atrazine is a poison.
Many products in use in North America are "poisons" depending on the dosage.
I am not an environmental scientist and cannot say that atrazine does
not cause cancer. My two cents is that the increase in cancer is not
just from atrazine but from the large number of endocrine disrupters in
the environment (personal care products, pharmaceuticals, industrial
chemicals,) and the interaction of these compounds.
Here's a link to a story about atrazine.
I am less interested in the pros and cons of atrazine than making sure
more "facts" are part of the discussion.
js
http://farms.com/FarmsPages/ExpertsBio/tabid/293/Default.aspx?NewsId=47159&authorid=43
Stu Ellis: Does Atrazine Really Have Any Benefit?
by Stu Ellis |
Biography
<http://farms.com/FarmsPages/ExpertsBio/tabid/293/Default.aspx?NewsId=47159&authorid=43#A>
Stu Ellis: Does Atrazine Really Have Any Benefit?
Bookmark and Share
<http://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=250&pub=darrenmarsland>
Do atrazine and its triazine cousins have any value to Cornbelt
farmers? After all, the EPA is continually in a process of
re-registering its use, even though approval might have just been
certified. A recent estimate of the value of triazine products puts
their value at $3 billion per year to agriculture, spread across the
Cornbelt, and extending into sorghum and sugar cane regions of the US.
Your predecessors on your farm first began using atrazine in 1959, and
it was the most widely used herbicide until recently overtaken by
glyphosate. Numerous studies have been made of atrazine and its
chemistry, the most recent *study *
<http://www.aae.wisc.edu/pubs/sps/pdf/stpap564.pdf>by agricultural
economist Paul Mitchell of the University of Wisconsin. Mitchell's
study takes into account current corn production data, left out of prior
reports, along with the economic impact of genetically modified corn and
the increased dependence of the biofuel industry on corn. Mitchell adds
that the recent issues surrounding glyphosate resistance in a dozen weed
species increase the potential importance of atrazine as an alternative
means of weed control.
Using all of these dynamics, Mitchell sets up a series of scenarios with
and without the availability of atrazine to farmers and calculates the
financial difference. For example he says if glyphosate is applied to
75% of corn acres, that would likely increase to as much as 100% if
atrazine were not available.
Mitchell says one indicator of the value of atrazine is its widespread
use, resulting from its low cost and effectiveness against many
broadleaf weeds and grasses. He said USDA data indicated atrazine was
used on 62% to 75% of corn acres between 1990 and 2005, declining only
because of the introduction of glyphosate for corn. He says even when
glyphosate was being applied to 75% of corn acreage in 2009, atrazine
was being used on 57% of corn acres. Prior to glyphosate for corn, when
68% of acres were being treated with atrazine in 1991, the second most
popular herbicide metolachlor was being used on only 20% of acreage.
If atrazine were unavailable for use, Mitchell says alternatives would
be used and he based his value calculations on weed infestations,
potential yield losses, herbicide efficacies, and crop potential in the
various USDA production regions of the US. Based on yield data from
other researchers, Mitchell computed a 20% yield loss without atrazine.
Evaluating earlier reports, he said costs of additional herbicides were
included, but not the time and machine cost of additional applications
of herbicides. And he says because each field and farm are different,
the cost is difficult to determine.
Examining the value of the weed control benefits, Mitchell used market
price and input cost data from USDA from 2007 to 2009. For example,
Mitchell uses the USDA's Heartland Region, which is the central part of
the Cornbelt, and says without atrazine, revenue losses would range from
$31 to $36 per acre. He calculated that at $9,000 to $10,000 per farm
based on only 281 acres of corn per farm, for a total of $2.2 to $2.7
billion for the four state heartland region. Losses in the other
regions are millions of dollars per year and account for 25% to 30% of
all US losses.
For those 281 acres of corn, described as average for Cornbelt farms,
Mitchell says without atrazine, herbicide costs would be $750 or $177
million per year. The impact on net income in the Heartland region is
about $10,000 per year, but when all US agricultural regions are
tabulated, the net income loss climbs above $2.36 billion. With the
loss of yield from the lack of atrazine, Mitchell says the average per
acre revenue in his 2007 to 2009 period would be $547 using ERS data and
$616 using NASS data. When combining income loss from corn, sorghum,
sweet corn and sugar cane, Mitchell says the total would range from $3.0
to $3.3 billion per year, with 60% of the benefit in the Heartland
region. He is quick to note that because current crop prices are 33%
higher than in the 2007 to 2009 period, benefits would be increased by 33%.
Mitchell also looked at other benefits, which included the way atrazine
enhanced the performance of other herbicides. Using the research of a
number of weed scientists, he reports:
1) Atrazine enhances the broadleaf spectrum of bromoxynil, and it
complements the grass, control of acetochlor, where atrazine provides
the broadleaf control.
2) Atrazine enhances the broadleaf weed control value of other less
efficacious herbicides and complements the efficacy of grass herbicides,
which generates economic benefits for crop farmers.
3) Atrazine cannot be used on soybeans, but by providing effective weed
control in corn, atrazine reduces the weed seed bank and subsequent
interference pressure from weed species that can be difficult to control
in soybeans.
4) Atrazine improves herbicide-resistant weed management by providing a
low cost and effective alternative mode of action to glyphosate and
other non-triazine herbicides in corn.
5) Maintaining the availability of atrazine as an alternative mode of
action is particularly important for herbicide resistance management
since no new herbicide modes of action have been released for agronomic
grain crops since 1990.
The Wisconsin economist found that the development of herbicide
resistant weeds is a major concern of farmers, and reported that half of
corn, soybean, and cotton farmers express that as their primary
concern. He says based on current plantings, "if 5% more corn and
soybean farmers became concerned about weed resistance because triazine
herbicides were not available, these average per acre reductions in
value imply an annual average loss of almost $15 million for corn
farmers and almost $12 million for soybeans farmers, just from an
increase in concern about herbicide-resistant weeds." And he said that
dollar value would double if the percentage of concern was doubled.
Another benefit identified by Mitchell is that of the environmental
impact of reduced tillage, which cuts soil erosion by $44 billion
annually and use of pesticides by $8 billion annually. With the
effectiveness of atrazine in reduced till acreage, Mitchell says
research found, "Every year, conventional tillage corn had the lowest
percentage of acres using atrazine and no-till corn had the highest
percentage, except in 2007 when a greater percentage of conservation
tillage corn acres received atrazine than no-till acres. These data
demonstrate that in corn production, atrazine is consistently used more
often in reduced tillage systems than in conventional tillage systems."
Due to the increasing amount of weeds resistant to glyphosate, Mitchell
says the use of atrazine becomes even more important in reduced tillage
crops. Otherwise there would be a reversal of a 30 year trend in
tillage reduction, just for control of glyphosate resistant weeds, if
atrazine were not available.
*Summary*:
Atrazine has become a mainstay of many farmers for broadleaf and grass
control in corn, even with the use of glyphosate. It has been both a
complement and a replacement for glyphosate, particularly in reduced
tillage fields. However, benefits allowed by the use of atrazine can
exceed $3 billion per year due to increased weed control that allows
increased yield. This is not only true in the Cornbelt, but also
benefits sorghum, sweet corn, and sugar cane production areas.
On 11/16/2011 11:34 AM, Louisette Lanteigne wrote:
>
> ----- Forwarded Message -----
> *From:* Louisette Lanteigne <butterflybluelu at rogers.com>
> *To:* "dschultz at grandriver.ca" <dschultz at grandriver.ca>;
> "peter.braid at parl.gc.ca" <peter.braid at parl.gc.ca>;
> "peter.kent at parl.gc.ca" <peter.kent at parl.gc.ca>; DaynaScott/osgoode
> <DScott at osgoode.yorku.ca>; "francis.scarpaleggia at parl.gc.ca"
> <francis.scarpaleggia at parl.gc.ca>; "stephane.dion at parl.gc.ca"
> <stephane.dion at parl.gc.ca>; "Elizabeth.May at parl.gc.ca"
> <Elizabeth.May at parl.gc.ca>; "nycole.turmel at parl.gc.ca"
> <nycole.turmel at parl.gc.ca>; "all at gren.ca" <all at gren.ca>;
> "dmcguinty.mpp.co at liberal.ola.org" <dmcguinty.mpp.co at liberal.ola.org>;
> "tim.ryall at ontario.ca" <tim.ryall at ontario.ca>; "tim.hudak at pc.ola.org"
> <tim.hudak at pc.ola.org>; "ahorwath-co at ndp.on.ca"
> <ahorwath-co at ndp.on.ca>; "jbradley.mpp at liberal.ola.org"
> <jbradley.mpp at liberal.ola.org>; "dmatthews.mpp.co at liberal.ola.org"
> <dmatthews.mpp.co at liberal.ola.org>; "tmcmeekin.mpp.co at liberal.ola.org"
> <tmcmeekin.mpp.co at liberal.ola.org>; "Min at dfo-mpo.gc.ca"
> <Min at dfo-mpo.gc.ca>
> *Sent:* Wednesday, November 16, 2011 11:34:36 AM
> *Subject:* Lake Erie Source Water Protection Committee : re ATRAZINE
>
> Hon. Ministers, please review the following information regarding the
> use of the broad leaf pesticide Atrazine in the Grand River Watershed,
> a water supply that provides for over 1 million people. I would like
> to see a study initiated to see if the elevated breast and prostate
> cancers along the Grand River are linked to the use of this particular
> chemical.
>
> Dear Mr. Schultz
> Please forward this to the Lake Erie Source Water Protection Committee
> on my behalf please.
>
> Thank you
>
> Louisette Lanteigne
> 700 Star Flower Ave.
> Waterloo Ont.
> N2V 2L2
> ________________________________
>
> Dear Source Water Protection Committee members
>
> Atrazine is the largest pesticide being used over the Grand River
> Watershed over corn and soya crops and it was already banned in the UK
> for it's endocrine disrupting properties. It's linked to breast and
> prostate cancers as well. These two cancers exist all along
> communities along the Grand RIver beyond provincial averages as I
> observed by reviewing the annual reports by public health departments.
> I am concerned about intensified farming related to extended growing
> seasons associated with Climate Change and how additional loadings of
> Atrazine could impact our watershed well, river water quality and
> human health. We need to investigate the breast and prostate cancers
> to see if affected areas co-relate to either direct exposure to
> Atrazine use or to atrazine in municipal water supplies and secure 12
> month seasonal analysis to monitor for delta levels.
>
> Currently all pesticides used, sold or imported into Canada
> are regulated by the Pest Management Regulatory Agency (PMRA) of
> Health Canada. In 2004 they did tests in Waterloo Region to
> re-evaluate the safety of Atrazine. The Information provided by the
> EPA played a key roll in this re-evaluation and The Pest Management
> Regulatory Agency of Health Canada has concluded that "all the uses of
> Atrazine do not entail an unacceptable risk to human health".
>
> What this study failed to mention is fact that Atrazine is banned by
> the European Union. It is banned in France, Denmark, Germany, Norway
> and Sweden because it has proven endocrine-disrupting properties and
> it has toxic impacts on wildlife in existing water systems in
> concentrations as low as 2.16 ppb.
>
> http://www.hawkeshealth.net/community/showthread.php?t=3609&page=1
> <http://www.hawkeshealth.net/community/showthread.php?t=3609&page=1>
>
> This chemical alters the sex of frogs. This fact has been proven
> independently in labs in Japan, Canada and the US. It is linked to
> breast cancer and prostate cancer. These findings are supported by
> research conducted by the World Health Organization,
> Berkley University and several international research facilities.
>
> In spite of the related health risks, the EPA still chose not to limit
> the use of atrazine. Ron Kendall, the chairman of EPA's scientific
> advisory panel is a former employee of Syngenta, the manufacturer
> of Atrazine. In fact he ran the lab that did all of Syngenta's work.
>
> Syngata has a problem right now with men experiencing high levels of
> prostate cancers in their factory in Louisiana.
>
> The US Natural Resources Defence Council (NRDC) has filed a lawsuit
> in the Federal Court in Washington, D.C. on February 17, 2005 citing
> that the US EPA has illegally negotiated secret agreements with
> industry lobbyists over pesticide regulations concerning Atrazine and
> Dichlorvos.
>
> In Canada, Jay Bradshaw, the president of Syngenta Canada sits on the
> steering committee for Health Canada's Pest Management Regulatory
> Agency in Guelph.
>
> A Breast Cancer forum in Cambridge Ontario used deformed frogs found
> in Laurel Creek in Waterloo to illustrate how polluted water can
> result in abnormal growth of cells. Currently the GRCA reports that
> male fish are currently developing female physical traits in the Grand
> River. These factors may be linked to Atrazine.
>
> Dr. Brian Dixon an immunologist at U of Waterloo, has done some
> research with pesticides including a study on DDT and malathion in
> Point Pelee. He studied frogs and found that very low doses of
> pesticides suppress the immune system, leading to health issues. He
> wanted to do more work on atrazine but couldn't get the funding.
> Perhaps with assistance via the GRCA or other
> water related agency, we can help fund his research.
>
> In Waterloo Region in 1998, 20,451 kg of triazine herbicides were used
> on all crops. Atrazine was the most highly used triatizine applied.
> The concentrations that caused frog deformaties were low enough to be
> considered safe for drinking water comsumption based on current EPA
> standards.
>
> I believe Canada should make the effort to include
> international scientific studies from several independent bodies
> to formulate our test results beyond just the EPA scope otherwise we
> may compromise public health and our ecology.
>
> The leading researcher on the issue is Tyrone Haynes. He states:
> "Atrazine increases aromatase and/or estrogen production in zebra
> fish, goldfish, caimans, alligators, turtles, quail and rats," Hayes
> points out. "So this is not just a frog problem."
>
> http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=sex-changing-weed-killer
>
> Currently the EPA is looking for public information to consider a ban
> the chemical in the US:
> http://www.awwa.org/publications/breakingnewsdetail.cfm?itemnumber=57543
>
> It is my hope that we can prohibit the use of Atrazine over top source
> areas and adjacent to the Grand River as part of the Source Water
> Protection Act. Commercial alternatives exist.
>
> Thank you kindly for your time
>
> Lousiette Lanteigne
> 700 Star Flower Ave.
> Waterloo Ontario
> N2V 2L2
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> All mailing list
> All at gren.ca
> http://gren.ca/mailman/listinfo/all_gren.ca
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