Greensboro, North Carolina, USA
June 2, 2016
- Not based on the overwhelming weight of scientific evidence
- Uses studies the agency previously recognized as flawed
- If left uncorrected, would threaten farmers’ use of a safe and critical weed-management tool
EPA’s draft report on the ecological assessment of the herbicide atrazine contains numerous data and methodological errors and needs to be corrected.
The agency posted its draft report today. EPA stated it will open the docket for a 60-day public comment period within one week and that a Scientific Advisory Panel (SAP) will be held in 2017.
U.S. corn, sorghum and sugar cane growers have depended on this safe and essential herbicide to produce food sustainably for more than 50 years. Atrazine increases crop yields and enables no-till farming and conservation tillage, which help keep aquatic systems healthy by dramatically reducing soil runoff into rivers and streams.
“We’re troubled the draft assessment discounted several rigorous, high-quality scientific studies and didn’t adhere to EPA’s own high standards,” said Marian Stypa, Ph.D., head, product development for Syngenta in North America. “The draft report erroneously and improperly estimated atrazine’s levels of concern for birds, fish, mammals and aquatic communities that are not supported by science.”
For example, data presented in the 2012 SAP demonstrated the level of concern (LOC) for atrazine could be more than six times higher than the conservative number proposed in EPA’s preliminary report, and still be protective of aquatic communities. Together with numerous errors in EPA’s modeling, the agency drew scientifically unsound conclusions, based on flawed assessments that need to be corrected.
“Assessments, even ones that are drafts, with such far-reaching consequences should only be based on the best, highest quality science to ensure farmers have this critical and irreplaceable tool for U.S. agriculture,” said Vern Hawkins, president, Syngenta Crop Protection, LLC, and North America region director. “We’re confident that when given a thorough science review, atrazine’s continued, longstanding safety will be confirmed.”
A 2012 University of Chicago economic study reported farming without atrazine would cost corn growers up to $59 per acre. While corn prices have fallen since the report was released, the availability of atrazine for use in corn could make the difference between growers making a profit or incurring a loss on their crop.
“Syngenta looks forward to EPA reviewing public comments, using the best available data, and correcting and revising the draft risk assessment. We also look forward to the SAP on atrazine in 2017,” said Hawkins.
Atrazine is one of the most closely examined pesticides in the world and its safety has been established in nearly 7,000 scientific studies over more than 50 years. This important tool for sustainable agriculture deserves a thorough and comprehensive scientific review.
“Syngenta supports transparent, scientifically based regulation of all crop protection technologies,” said Stypa. “The best science and data must remain the cornerstone of our regulatory process.”
More information about atrazine is available at www.SavingTheOasis.com, www.AgSense.org and www.Atrazine.com.
EPA Preliminary Ecological Risk Assessment on Atrazine
Errors and departures in the science:
- The assessment erroneously lowers the chronic no-effect level for birds (end point) by a factor of three, without new information or data to support such a change.
- The assessment relies on a study — not conducted in accordance with required guidelines — to lower the fish endpoint 12-fold, while overlooking the results of a more recent, guideline-compliant study, as well as other fish studies conducted by EPA itself.
- Against the advice of multiple separate Scientific Advisory Panels (SAPs), this assessment relies on scientifically invalid aquatic plant (microcosm/mesocosm) studies to define the aquatic level of concern (LOC).
- QA/QC errors in the exposure database and methodological errors lead to extraordinary overestimates of aquatic and terrestrial exposure.
- This assessment estimates inflated hypothetical risks that have not been observed in the real world in more than 50 years of closely scrutinized product use.
Implications of the Preliminary Risk Assessment:
- Labeled uses, including on corn at reduced rates, would not be allowed.
- Virtually all herbicides and many fungicides and insecticides could not pass a risk assessment developed in this way.
- Continued reliance on the flawed science in the preliminary risk assessment threatens to undermine public confidence in the integrity of EPA’s regulatory science framework.
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