Atrazine, Help or Hindrance?

Agricultural producers don't want weeds in their corn rows, which has made atrazine one of the most-used and most cost-effective herbicides to get rid of them.

Too much atrazine can be a problem, however. When it rains, atrazine on the soil can be washed into adjacent surface waters. It can get into streams or lakes where levels as small as one part per billion (ppb) can kill algae and other aquatic plants.

Atrazine can seep or soak into groundwater through the soil with irrigation or rain water. Atrazine above 3 ppb in drinking water could cause human health problems. But experts aren't sure if atrazine can cause cancer and removing it from drinking water supplies can be an expensive proposition.

Proper handling and correct use of herbicides like atrazine minimize the chances of them getting into drinking water.
Contact your state department of agriculture or university cooperative extension service for more information on proper home and farm pesticide use and be sure to apply all pesticides according to label directions.