BANNED ATRAZINE IN EUROPE IS JUST FINE HERE

Well it looks as if we have a local environmental issue that isn't the fault of our Ontario Ministry of the Environment. Atrazine is a very common pesticide used on corn fields both locally and across Canada. This is despite the European Union banning Atrazine twelve years ago! They consider it to be an endocrine disrupter linked to reproductive damage in male fish, amphibians and reptiles as well as reproductive effects and breast cancer in humans. But do not fret, Canada's PMRA (Pest Management Review Agency) are not worried.

They are conducting a special review of this long used pesticide in Canada. It is a chloinated chemical and quite capable of getting into both ground and surface water. The Region of Waterloo test for it in our drinking water and it is usually reported as <.38 parts per billion ie. less than .38 ppb. That said I have found a couple of test results at <.5 ppb and one at 1ppb. While they are a few years old that is still a little disconcerting and might mean that they had a hit at .38 ppb so simply bumped up the detection limit slightly. Not conclusive however. The Canadian drinkling water standard is 5 ppb.

Atrazine is considered ubiquitous in the environment anywhere that corn is grown in Canada. While the detected concentrations in Waterloo Region appear significantly below the drinking water standard, there are other considerations. Each and every standard is based upon the implausible and frankly impossible assumption that the particular contaminant being looked at is the one and only contaminant in the environment. Between the air we breathe, the food we eat and the water we drink we are getting dosed constantly. Just because ten contaminants individually do not exceed their standards does not mean that being exposed to ten different ones at any concentration is safe. It is not. Simply look at the cancer rates in the population today. They are ridiculous. We continue to focus on end of the pipe treatment rather than prevention for both water quality and human health.