Safety atrazine

El-Sheekh, M.M., H.M. Kotkat, and O.H.E. Hammouda. 1994. Effect of atrazine herbicide on growth, photosynthesis, protein synthesis, and fatty acid composition in the unicellular green alga Chlorella kessleri. Ecotoxicol. Environ. Safety 29 349-358. 

Gonzalez-Murua, C., A. Munoz-Rueda, F. Hernando, and M. Sanchez-Diaz. 1985. Effect of atrazine and methabenzthiazuron on oxygen evolution and cell growth of Chlorella pyrenoidosa. Weed Res. 25 61-66. Gorge, G. and R. Nagel. 1990. Toxicity of lindane, atrazine, and deltamethrin to early life stages of zebrafish (Brachydanio rerio). Ecotoxicol. Environ. Safety 20 246-255. 

Neskovic, N.K., I. Elezovic, V. Karan, V. Poleksic, and M. Budimir. 1993. Acute and subacute toxicity of atrazine to carp (Cyprinus carpio L.). Ecotoxicol. Environ. Safety 25 173-182. 

Prasad, T.A.V. and D.C. Reddy. 1994. Atrazine toxicity on hydromineral balance of fish, Tilapia mossambicus. Ecotoxicol. Environ. Safety 28 313-316. 

Schiavon, M. 1988a. Studies of the leaching of atrazine, of its chlorinated derivatives, and of hydroxyatrazine from soil using 14C ring-labeled compounds under outdoor conditions. Ecotoxicol. Environ. Safety 15 46-54. 

Major chemical contaminants implicated in food safety include pesticides, herbicides, myeotoxins and antibiotics. These analytes have been targeted by numerous groups developing SPR biosensors. As these analytes are rather small (typical molecular weight < 1,000), inhibition assay has been a preferred detection format. Examples of chemical contaminants detected by SPR biosensors include pesticides atrazine and simazine (detection limits 0.05 ng/ml and 0.1 ng/ml respectively), mycotoxin Fumonisin B1 (detection limit 50 ng/ml ), and antibiotics Sulphamethazine, Sulphadiazine (detection limits 1 ng/ml and 20 ng/ml respectively). 

This book is about the revolutionary impact of the triazines herbicides, likely the most important class of agricultural chemicals ever developed. For five decades the triazines have provided weed control in more than 50 crops around the world and have helped farmers boost yields and produce enough food to feed a rising global population. The triazine herbicides, and especially atrazine, are the most well-researched herbicides in history, with thousands of scientific studies on their safety to humans and the environment. Data from studies on the triazines have been evaluated extensively by regulatory authorities around the globe to ensure their safe use. 

Hundreds of triazine-containing products continue to be reviewed, registered, and used throughout the world, with regular reregistrations and safety reviews. While several of the triazines have been recently reviewed, the most comprehensive of these reviews in multiple countries involved atrazine and simazine. 

Due to increasing demand for atrazine, in 1969 Geigy began production at a new plant in St. Gabriel, Louisiana. As part of the planning for the new facility, intensive research and development work was performed in Alabama and Basel to improve the production process. Instead of the batch process used previously, a new continuous production process was developed. The new and efficient Louisiana facility has been the recipient of numerous production, safety and environmental awards and recognitions, and is now the production site for all Syngenta atrazine, simazine, and terbuthylazine used worldwide. 

Premixes of Atrazine and Other Herbicides The first prepackaged mixture of a grass herbicide with atrazine was Primaze , a combination of two products prometryn (Caparol) and atrazine. The prepack was first sold in 1968. However the margin of crop safety for prometryn was narrow, and it was marketed for only 2 years. 

Regulatory bodies in the United States, the European Union, Australia, and France, as well as the World Health Organization, have all given atrazine favorable safety reviews for continued registration. The safe use and resulting benefits of the triazines in worldwide agricultural production are critical as farmers continue to feed our growing population. 

Premix and tank-mix compatibility Atrazine is an excellent mixing partner with many herbicides. Compatibility and antagonism problems are rare. In fact, its premix compatibility is so good that atrazine is used more often than any other herbicide as a premix component in com herbicide products. Furthermore, because of the tremendous margin of com safety, mixes do not typically pose a risk for increased crop injury. 

Worker and environmental safety Atrazine and simazine are safe to apply according to the directions on the label. Nontarget safety margins are good because atrazine is nonvolatile and has low specific activity. In addition, avian, mammalian, and aquatic toxicities are low. Relative safety to nontarget plant species is a positive characteristic that is not always found in alternative products. 

Atrazine is the key herbicide facilitating ecofallow corn and sorghum production in the semi-arid Great Plains, where crop production is often uncertain and profits to farmers are often marginal. The success of atrazine in ecofallow is attributable to its duration of weed control as a soil-applied herbicide, the broad spectrum of weeds controlled, the low cost per area treated, and its safety to crops. In this semi-arid environment, maintaining weed-free fallow with repeated applications of nonresidual herbicides is not an economically viable alternative to atrazine. 

Atrazine remains the standard herbicide for making the transition from wheat to sorghum or corn in Great Plains cropping systems. Even where more intensified crop rotations have been developed, they are built around winter wheat followed by ecofallow sorghum or com. The success of atrazine is due to its persistence as a soil-applied herbicide, to the broad spectrum of weeds controlled, to its low cost per acre, and to its safety on sorghum and com. In the Great Plains, repeated burndown of weeds in fallow with nonresidual herbicides is not a viable alternative to the role that atrazine plays. 

The most recent USEPA dietary assessment for atrazine used 1.8mg/kg (chronic NOAEL from a 6-month rat study) with a 1000-fold safety factor (cRfD = 0.0018mg/kg/day). This analysis also confirmed that potential dietary exposure for all exposed population subgroups was less than 1% of the cRfD (USEPA, 2003). 

Coady, K.K., M.B. Murphy, D.L. Villeneuve, M. Hecker, J.A. Carr, K.R. Solomon, G.J. Van Der Kraak, E.E. Smith, R.J. Kendall, and J.R Giesy (2005). Effects of atrazine on metamorphosis, growth, laryngeal and gonadal development, aromatase activity, and plasma sex steroid concentrations in Xenopus laevis. Ecotoxicol. Environ. Safety 62 160-173. 

Even when an individual s atrazine and simazine intakes from drinking water ingestion (water) and food consumption (diet) were combined, 95% of the MOEs exceeded 30000. The minimum acceptable MOE for human environmental exposure is usually in the range between 10 and 1000 so the atrazine and simazine MOEs provide an ample safety margin. For atrazine and simazine combined, 95% of the MOEs are in excess of 38000 for water alone and in excess of 280000 for diet alone. 

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