Atrazine is a potent endocrine disruptor that , at concentrations as low as 2.5 component per billion , has been shown to cause immunosuppression , hermaphroditism and even ended sex reversal in malefrogs . The herbicide has been join to procreative defects infishand prostate and breast genus Cancer in research laboratory rodents , and epidemiological study suggest it is carcinogenic to humans . Atrazine is extremely persistent in the environment . It is still noticeable in France 15 years after its last utilization there . More than half a million pounds of Atrazine return to the Earth each year in rain and coke after it is take hold of in the airstream following spray .
Atrazine has been under serious examination over the preceding several old age as an copiousness of scientific literature on its harmful effects have been published by scientists at the U.S. Geological Survey , the University of California , Berkeley , and the University of South Florida . More of late , during the outside Save the Frogs Day on April 29 , 2011 , activists gather at the steps of the EPA ’s central office in Washington , D.C. , to raise awareness of the disappearance of amphibians and call for a federal proscription on Atrazine .
“ Atrazine is the twenty-first 100 ’s DDT ” says Kerry Kriger , Ph.D. , founding father and executive director of Save the Frogs , America ’s first and only public charity dedicate to protect amphibians . Kriger led the Save the Frogs Day rally and hand - delivered 10,012 petition signatures to the EPA ’s Herbicide Division the undermentioned calendar week .
“ Now that we have the EPA ’s attention , we are a big dance step nigher towards protecting our nutrient provision , our drinking water and our wildlife from this known internal secretion - disruptor , ” Kriger says .
This issue come up in the aftermath of a partnership establish in August between the EPA and the USDA to protect Americans ’ wellness by improving rural drunkenness water supply and effluent arrangement .
Under the partnership , the EPA and USDA will mold together to promote jobs by targeting specific audiences , providing education for new water careers and coordinating outreach efforts that will bring with child public visibleness to the workforce needs of the industry , and develop a new contemporaries of trained water professional . EPA and USDA will also help the exchange of successful enlisting and breeding strategy among stakeholders , include states and water diligence .
The office will also help rural utilities improve current operations and further exploitation of foresighted - term body of water - quality - improvement plan . The programme will include make grow sustainable direction practices to cut costs and improve performance .
