In this podcast, Greg Whitmore, a farmer from Shelby and member of the Nebraska Corn Growers Association, talks about a petition the Environmental Protection Agency received a earlier this year from a group known as Save the Frogs.The group is asking EPA to ban the use and production of atrazine and EPA is taking public comments on the matter.
"Of course none of the information submitted in the petition justifies any change to conclusions EPA drew in 2010" when EPA reiterated that atrazine did not adversely effect amphibian development, Whitmore said. "That’s because there’s no new, credible science to justify any change. And it is unfortunate in these tight budget times that EPA and others have to devote time and dollars on something that has been proven safe and effective time after time."
Atrazine is used in small amounts in more than 50 farm products, including many popular herbicides farmers use. It is the most tested and most tracked crop protection product in history. It’s been around for more than five decades and has been proven safe at every EPA review, including a major review that concluded in 2007. There are more than 6,000 studies supporting atrazine's wide safety profile.
As for frogs and amphibians, there have been several published studies from independent laboratories using five additional species of amphibians. All demonstrated no effects by atrazine on amphibians.
Whitmore said the Nebraska Corn Growers Association encourage farmers to submit comments to EPA. To help, it has placed information on its website. Just click here. Comments are due Nov. 14.
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