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<DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2><SPAN class=234442813-03052006>sorry
for any cross posting (see below)...but, why does it seem the EU is always a
step ahead of the U.S? is it simply because of their use of
the "precautionary principal"?</SPAN></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2><SPAN
class=234442813-03052006></SPAN></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2><SPAN class=234442813-03052006>allen
gilliam</SPAN></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2><SPAN class=234442813-03052006>adeq
state pretreatment coordinator</SPAN></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Verdana size=1><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 9pt; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana"><SPAN
class=234442813-03052006><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff
size=2> </FONT></SPAN></SPAN></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Verdana size=1><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 9pt; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana"><SPAN
class=234442813-03052006> </SPAN>Living on Earth recent brief interview
with Tyrone Hayes (April 21):<BR><BR>The audio is available at :<BR><A
href="http://www.loe.org/shows/segments.htm?programID=06-P13-00016&segmentID=1">http://www.loe.org/shows/segments.htm?programID=06-P13-00016&segmentID=1</A><BR></DIV></SPAN></FONT>
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<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Verdana size=1><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 9pt; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana">The European Union has banned the
herbicide Atrazine, effective next year, after finding it contaminated a number
of drinking water supplies. The weed killer first came under scrutiny for its
effects on frogs, and more recently has been linked to adverse affects on human
health.<BR> Some 70 million pounds of
Atrazine are used in the </SPAN></FONT><FONT face=Verdana size=1><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 9pt; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana">US</SPAN></FONT><FONT face=Verdana
size=1><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 9pt; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana"> each year, mostly on
cornfields. After studying Atrazine, the Environmental Protection Agency decided
not to ban it in the </SPAN></FONT><FONT face=Verdana size=1><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 9pt; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana">US</SPAN></FONT><FONT face=Verdana
size=1><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 9pt; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana">, but says its
research into the chemical
continues.<BR> Joining me now is Tyrone
Hayes, a professor at UC Berkeley who's done pivotal research on Atrazine. And
he's just back from </SPAN></FONT><FONT face=Verdana size=1><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 9pt; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana">Europe</SPAN></FONT><FONT
face=Verdana size=1><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 9pt; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana">, we
caught up with him at the airport. Professor Hayes, welcome to Living on
Earth.<BR><BR>HAYES: Good to be here.<BR><BR>CURWOOD: So from your expertise,
what's your analysis of the science behind the EU's decision to ban
Atrazine?<BR><BR>HAYES: Well, there's a great deal of data showing Atrazine is
in fact an endocrine disrupter. In amphibians, Atrazine results in the
demasculinization - chemical castration - of male frogs, and subsequent
feminization. It produces hermaphroditic frogs, males with ovaries and eggs. And
in rodents and humans Atrazine is associated with breast cancer and prostrate
cancer and low sperm count.<BR><BR> The
European Union has a slightly different approach to regulating chemicals than
the </SPAN></FONT><FONT face=Verdana size=1><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 9pt; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana">United States</SPAN></FONT><FONT
face=Verdana size=1><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 9pt; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana">. It
operates under the precautionary principle, which says that if there is the
potential for a chemical to cause environmental and public health harm, then
that chemical is regulated. And in the case of Atrazine, banned, because it's
found in the water.<BR> The
</SPAN></FONT><FONT face=Verdana size=1><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 9pt; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana">United States</SPAN></FONT><FONT
face=Verdana size=1><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 9pt; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana"> counts
on the industry that produces the chemical to produce data to actually prove
that the chemical's harmful. There are states that have made some movements
towards regulating Atrazine. For example, </SPAN></FONT><FONT face=Verdana
size=1><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 9pt; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana">Wisconsin</SPAN></FONT><FONT
face=Verdana size=1><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 9pt; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana"> bans
Atrazine county by county, depending on when it shows up in the
water.<BR><BR>CURWOOD: Now, what about the exposures here in the real world. How
much Atrazine has been found in US drinking water? And how does that compare to
what's been found in </SPAN></FONT><FONT face=Verdana size=1><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 9pt; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana">Europe</SPAN></FONT><FONT
face=Verdana size=1><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 9pt; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana">?<BR><BR>HAYES: I think the levels
are about equal between the </SPAN></FONT><FONT face=Verdana size=1><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 9pt; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana">United States</SPAN></FONT><FONT
face=Verdana size=1><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 9pt; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana"> and
</SPAN></FONT><FONT face=Verdana size=1><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 9pt; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana">Europe</SPAN></FONT><FONT
face=Verdana size=1><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 9pt; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana">. The
current drinking water standard in the </SPAN></FONT><FONT face=Verdana
size=1><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 9pt; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana">United
States</SPAN></FONT><FONT face=Verdana size=1><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 9pt; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana"> is three parts per billion, and,
particularly in the </SPAN></FONT><FONT face=Verdana size=1><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 9pt; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana">Midwest</SPAN></FONT><FONT
face=Verdana size=1><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 9pt; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana">, that
three parts per billion can be exceeded. But, in fact, we know now that Atrazine
is biologically active as low as .1 parts billion. So that's 30 times lower than
the current drinking water standard in the United States.<BR><BR>CURWOOD:
There's a lot of concern about prostrate cancer and breast cancer here. What
relationship, if any, is there between Atrazine and those
diseases?<BR><BR>HAYES: The relationship between Atrazine and prostrate cancer
and breast cancer is very significant. Excremental evidence in rodents show that
Atrazine is associated with an increased incident of both prostrate cancer and
breast cancer. And correlational evidence in humans shows that people who are
exposed to Atrazine have higher rates of breast cancer and prostrate
cancer.<BR>In fact, if you feed a female rat Atrazine - her pups that she is
suckling, her male pups, can develop prostrate disease. So those effects of
Atrazine are transferable even from the mother to the suckling
pup.<BR> There's also studies showing
that prostrate cancer was increased in men who worked in a factory that produced
Atrazine. The levels of prostrate disease and prostrate cancer were 8.4-fold
higher than expected, and 8.4-fold higher than men who worked in the factory but
were not exposed to Atrazine.<BR>So given that Atrazine is the number one
selling pesticide in the world, and given that breast cancer and prostrate
cancer are the number one cancers in men and women, respectively, then I think
this is a big concern.<BR><BR>CURWOOD: How prevalent is the presence of Atrazine
in US drinking water supplies? Is this a problem for five percent of the
country? Ten? Twenty? Fifty percent?<BR><BR>HAYES: You know, the bigger problems
for Atrazine are in the </SPAN></FONT><FONT face=Verdana size=1><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 9pt; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana">Midwest</SPAN></FONT><FONT
face=Verdana size=1><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 9pt; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana">, where
it's used mostly, so like </SPAN></FONT><FONT face=Verdana size=1><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 9pt; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana">Nebraska</SPAN></FONT><FONT
face=Verdana size=1><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 9pt; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana"> and
</SPAN></FONT><FONT face=Verdana size=1><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 9pt; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana">Iowa</SPAN></FONT><FONT
face=Verdana size=1><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 9pt; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana">,
</SPAN></FONT><FONT face=Verdana size=1><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 9pt; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana">Indiana</SPAN></FONT><FONT
face=Verdana size=1><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 9pt; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana">. The
concerns are not just for people who live in areas where Atrazine is used. But
people have to also understand that Atrazine travels quite far and can be found
in areas that are even considered pristine. Both in </SPAN></FONT><FONT
face=Verdana size=1><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 9pt; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana">Europe</SPAN></FONT><FONT
face=Verdana size=1><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 9pt; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana"> and the
</SPAN></FONT><FONT face=Verdana size=1><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 9pt; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana">United States</SPAN></FONT><FONT
face=Verdana size=1><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 9pt; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana"> it's
been shown that Atrazine can be found as much as 600 miles from where it has
been applied.<BR><BR>CURWOOD: So in your view is there enough evidence out there
to ban Atrazine in the </SPAN></FONT><FONT face=Verdana size=1><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 9pt; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana">United States</SPAN></FONT><FONT
face=Verdana size=1><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 9pt; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana">?<BR><BR>HAYES: Certainly when you
look at the environmental health risks and the public health risks and the
prevalence of Atrazine in groundwater and drinking water, there's cause for
concern. When you consider on top of that the evidence in every animal class
that's been examined that Atrazine causes adverse biological effects, then this
raises concern. Essentially in the </SPAN></FONT><FONT face=Verdana size=1><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 9pt; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana">United States</SPAN></FONT><FONT
face=Verdana size=1><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 9pt; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana"> we've
put a price on our breasts, on our prostrates, on our environmental health, and
decided that the economic hit to banning Atrazine, that that concern exceeds our
concern for environmental health and public health.<BR><BR>CURWOOD: Tyrone Hayes
is a professor at the </SPAN></FONT><FONT face=Verdana size=1><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 9pt; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana">University</SPAN></FONT><FONT
face=Verdana size=1><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 9pt; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana"> of
</SPAN></FONT><FONT face=Verdana size=1><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 9pt; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana">California</SPAN></FONT><FONT
face=Verdana size=1><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 9pt; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana"> at
</SPAN></FONT><FONT face=Verdana size=1><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 9pt; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana">Berkeley</SPAN></FONT><FONT
face=Verdana size=1><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 9pt; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana">. Thank
you so much for speaking with me.<BR><BR></SPAN></FONT><FONT face=Verdana
size=1><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 7.5pt; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana"><BR></SPAN></FONT><B><FONT
face=Arial size=1><SPAN
style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold; FONT-SIZE: 7.5pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">EU on
atrazine.</SPAN></FONT></B><FONT face=Arial size=1><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 9pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"> The European Union has banned the
herbicide Atrazine, effective next year, after finding it contaminated drinking
water supplies. The weed killer first came under scrutiny for its effects on
frogs, and more recently has been linked to adverse effects on human
health.</SPAN></FONT><FONT face=Verdana size=1><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 9pt; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana"> </SPAN></FONT><FONT face=Arial
size=1><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 7.5pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">Living On
Earth</SPAN></FONT><FONT face=Verdana size=1><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 9pt; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana"> <<U><FONT color=blue><SPAN
style="COLOR: blue"><A
href="http://newsletters.environmentalhealthnews.org/t?ctl=11EC95C:4B8C4AF">http://newsletters.environmentalhealthnews.org/t?ctl=11EC95C:4B8C4AF</A></SPAN></FONT></U>>
</SPAN></FONT><FONT face=Arial size=1><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 7.5pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">[related
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href="http://newsletters.environmentalhealthnews.org/t?ctl=11EC910:4B8C4AF">http://newsletters.environmentalhealthnews.org/t?ctl=11EC910:4B8C4AF</A></SPAN></FONT></U>>
<BR></SPAN></FONT><U><FONT face=Arial color=blue size=1><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 7.5pt; COLOR: blue; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"><A
href="http://www.loe.org/shows/segments.htm?programID=06-P13-00016&seg">http://www.loe.org/shows/segments.htm?programID=06-P13-00016&seg</A></SPAN></FONT></U><U><FONT
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style="FONT-SIZE: 9pt; COLOR: blue; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">mentID=1</SPAN></FONT></U><FONT
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style="FONT-SIZE: 9pt; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana"><BR></SPAN></FONT> </P></DIV>---<BR>You
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