| In his most recent blog entry, Mike Barnett from Texas Farm Bureau applauds the science-based standards the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) employs for both food and water, though he expresses concern over EPA’s recent request for Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) Scientific Advisory Panel meetings to review the science on the herbicide atrazine.
Barnett remarks, “Atrazine is a valued, environmentally safe herbicide. By employing conservation tillage practices, farmers use atrazine to control weeds, limit soil runoff and reduce the number of tractor trips across their fields. That has led to less soil erosion, improved water quality and fewer greenhouse gas emissions. Atrazine is used on many corn, sorghum and sugarcane acres. Health authorities from the U.S., the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada and the World Health Organization have repeatedly said atrazine is safe.”
Despite over 6,000 studies and more than a decade of scientific scrutiny, Barnett contends the herbicide is still a target for class-action lawsuits by environmental and anti-pesticide groups. “If these atrazine lawsuits are successful,” Barnett cautions, “other safe pesticides and modern farming practices will be the next target, with frightening consequences for both farmers and consumers.”
Barnett encourages the EPA to “stick to science and facts in determining standards for how our food is grown. Replace science with alarm in the regulatory equation and our safe, affordable and abundant food supply takes a different turn.”
Barnett ’s full blog entry is available: http://www.txfb.org/TxAgTalks/post/2010/04/27/Alarm-bells-ringing-over-EPAe28099s-atrazine-investigation.aspx |
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