skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Friday, March 29, 2024

Public News Service Logo
facebook instagram linkedin reddit youtube twitter
view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

The latest on the Key Bridge collapse, New York puts forth legislation to get clean energy projects on the grid and Wisconsin and other states join a federal summer food program to help feed kids across the country.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Republicans float conspiracy theories on the collapse of Baltimore's Key Bridge, South Carolina's congressional elections will use a map ruled unconstitutional, and the Senate schedules an impeachment trial for Homeland Secretary Mayorkas.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Historic wildfires could create housing and health issues for rural Texans, a Kentucky program helps prison parolees start a new life, and descendants of Nicodemus, Kansas celebrate the Black settlers who journeyed across the 1870s plains seeking self-governance.

Midwest Drinking Water Samples Show More Atrazine

play audio
Play

Thursday, May 3, 2012   

ST. PAUL, Minn. - Atrazine continues to show up where it isn't supposed to be - in drinking water, according to the Pesticide Action Network.

Rural families in Minnesota and three other Midwestern states agreed to test their drinking water during the last two springs, when crops are typically being sprayed with this commonly used weed-killer. About three-quarters of the water samples contained Atrazine, although at lower levels than the limit set by the federal Environmental Protection Agency.

However, says Linda Wells, the network's Midwest organizer, any exposure to a chemical linked to cancer, birth defects and low birth-weight babies is too much.

"All of us drink water, and we deserve safe water here in the Midwest. If there are known carcinogens, it's the responsibility of the EPA and our public agencies to safeguard our water."

Wells' group is encouraging the EPA to look at a large body of independent research about Atrazine's health effects on people and wildlife as it reconsiders the legal limit for drinking water, which is now three parts per billion.

"The main thing we need to see is people speaking up and talking to both EPA, about reviewing their science on Atrazine, and also state officials in each of these states can take steps to monitor and safeguard drinking water."

Syngenta, the company that sells Atrazine, says the current EPA standard is safe and that conscientious farming practices, such as planting buffer zones between streams and fields, will reduce the chance of water contamination.

Atrazine has been banned in Europe since 2003, and a 2010 U.S. government study found the chemical in 75 percent of stream water and almost 40 percent of groundwater samples taken in agricultural areas.

The EPA meets again in mid-June to discuss reassessing Atrazine risks. The notice and comment-period information for that meeting is online at federalregister.gov.


get more stories like this via email

more stories
The U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments this week about the popular abortion pill Mifepristone and will weigh in on whether the U.S. Food and Drug Administration was correct in how it can be dosed and prescribed. (Ascannio/Adobe Stock)

Health and Wellness

play sound

Missouri residents are worried about future access to birth control. The latest survey from The Right Time, an initiative based in Missouri…


Social Issues

play sound

Wisconsin children from low-income families are now on track to get nutritious foods over the summer. Federal officials have approved the Badger …

Social Issues

play sound

Almost 2,900 people are unsheltered on any given night in the Beehive State. Gov. Spencer Cox is celebrating signing nine bills he says are geared …


The U.S. teaching workforce remains primarily white while the percentage of Black teachers has declined. However, the percentage of Asian and Latinx teachers is rising.(WavebreakMediaMicro/Adobestock)

Social Issues

play sound

Education advocates are calling on lawmakers to increase funding for programs to combat the teacher shortage. Around 37% of schools nationwide …

Environment

play sound

New York's Legislature is considering a bill to get clean-energy projects connected to the grid faster. It's called the RAPID Act, for "Renewable …

Social Issues

play sound

Earlier this month, a new Arizona Public Service rate hike went into effect and one senior advocacy group said those on a fixed income may struggle …

Social Issues

play sound

Michigan recently implemented a significant juvenile justice reform package following recommendations from a task force made up of prosecutors…

 

Phone: 303.448.9105 Toll Free: 888.891.9416 Fax: 208.247.1830 Your trusted member- and audience-supported news source since 1996 Copyright © 2021