LETTERS: ATRAZINE COULD POSE OTHER THREATS

To the editor:

Ron McNeal, president of the Missouri Corn Growers Association, used carefully chosen words in defending Atrazine in his Aug. 3 letter to the editor as a harmless "crop-protection product." As a herbicide designed for weed control, Atrazine is among the most widely used biocides in the world. Unfortunately, a weed is merely a successful plant growing where humans do not want it. As a biocide that destroys the ability of plants to photosynthesize, Atrazine outside the farm boundary will have an equally destructive impact on susceptible, non-target plants. Since the chemical is persistent in soil, it readily escapes from the treated field in both surface and ground water. As a result, it exerts its destructive potential on neighboring plants and especially on aquatic species which lie at the base of equatic food webs.

A report from a consortium of University of Missouri Extension offices provides conflicting evidence on the environmental impact of Atrazine. They suggest that it is practically non-toxic to birds, but also that it is toxic to fish in which it accumulates through the food chain, and other acquatic life.

In other words, even if we were to accept the argument that, as a biocide, Atrazine is relatively benign in humans, we would be foolish to accept blindly the assertion of the Corn Growers Association that Atrazine poses no threat.

ALAN JOURNET

Cape Girardeau