Anti-pesticide activists have been churning out bogus studies about  atrazine through the media, as part of their coordinated attempt to deprive  growers of this important product they have trusted for a half century. 

The latest efforts focus on a year-old paper by Dr. Paul Winchester of the Indiana University School of Medicine, which claimed a variation in the appearance of birth defects for children conceived in June – the so-called “June Effect.”  This was, Dr. Winchester suggests, possibly the result of the application of the herbicide atrazine in corn fields in late spring and early summer.  He makes the claim without any scientific link to back up his assertion, and admits that freely.  The study has absolutely no basis in science, as other environmental effects in June, such as the summer sun, may be just as likely to cause birth defects, if you use Dr. Winchester’s logic.

Adding further doubt to the Winchester paper, the EPA just released the findings of its April Scientific Advisory Panel (SAP) on atrazine.  The SAP found this study to be part of a cohort of studies – all of which purported to tie atrazine to negative health effects -- whose “overall quality” was “relatively low.” Dr. Winchester himself publicly stated that “it's difficult to directly link increased atrazine levels in Indiana drinking water to birth defects.”  All this has left people wondering why such a low quality study that doesn’t make a legitimate connection to health effects is getting so much attention from the press.

The other major problem with the Winchester paper was uncovered by researchers looking for the “June Effect” across all states.  What they discovered was a larger “June Effect” in states where almost no atrazine is used than in states where more atrazine is used, like Indiana.

You can take a look for yourself. Most importantly, despite what the activists say, there are no known negative human health effects from the recommended use of this herbicide — a tool farmers have used safely for 50 years.

It seems that one after another of these anti-atrazine studies gets discredited when they are looked at carefully by serious scientists, but the anti-pesticide bloggers and many in the press continue to report them anyway.

Help sound science prevail by joining the nation’s growers in support of agricultural technology at agsense.org.

June 2010