Benefits

• Since the 1950s, Atrazine has been favored in the fight against weeds that prevent abundant yields, or harvests. It also doesn't cause injury to crops and is adaptable to most soil systems. More than 65 percent of America's corn crops are treated with Atrazine. Herbicide workers also spray the chemical over highways and railroad paths.
  
  

Safety Measures

• In the late 1980s, animal testing has pointed out the possibility of Atrazine being a carcinogen. Training and stewardship programs during the 1990s sought to teach workers the right skills in preventing Atrazine contamination in both groundwater and surface water. Geologists recorded a significant 47 percent decrease in Atrazine levels in streams of the Midwest region, the area in which farmers widely used the herbicide. A comprehensive review of all Atrazine-based herbicides was then conducted in 1994.
  
  

Further Reviews

• In 2000, the EPA recommended that Atrazine be declassified as non-carcinogenic, determining that results in animal testing had no relevance to humans. Throughout the new millennium, more reviews for Atrazine were conducted to test for numerous health risks to the reproductive and endocrine systems. These studies showed no conclusive findings, and the EPA reports that there is no substantial evidence for Atrazine's harmful effects on humans.
  
  

Environmental Concerns

• Though Atrazine is a powerful and cost-efficient tool used by many in the farming industry, its impact and reported risks on the environment caused many to be critical of its use, inciting the EPA to regulate the application of the chemical.
  
  

Regulations

• Regulations for handling Atrazine are imposed on herbicide workers to prevent contamination of the environment. Occupational safety allows for eight-hour exposure limits. As Atrazine unavoidably gets into water systems and may reside there for a long time due to its slow breakdown, the FDA has set 3 mcg (micrograms) per liter as a safe content for bottled water. Drinking water, on the other hand, should only have 2 mcg per liter as regulated by World Health Organization (WHO).