Triazine herbicides linger for twice as long as experts expected
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,25318889-30417,00.html
WEEDKILLERS widely used on crops and forest plantations have been found to linger in the environment twice as long as previously thought, forcing a regulatory rethink and heightened health fears.
Research commissioned by the Tasmanian Government has found triazine herbicides persist far longer in cool climates and certain soil types than current guidelines suggest.
The findings, confirmed to The Weekend Australian, are forcing state and federal regulators to consider tightening controls on their use. But medical and scientific experts said a total ban on aerial spraying of triazines -- atrazine and simazine -- in water catchments was now justified. Although banned in Europe, triazines are still widely used in Australia to control weeds in forest plantations and in crops such as canola, sugar cane, maize, sorghum and lupins.
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,25318889-30417,00.html
WEEDKILLERS widely used on crops and forest plantations have been found to linger in the environment twice as long as previously thought, forcing a regulatory rethink and heightened health fears.
Research commissioned by the Tasmanian Government has found triazine herbicides persist far longer in cool climates and certain soil types than current guidelines suggest.
The findings, confirmed to The Weekend Australian, are forcing state and federal regulators to consider tightening controls on their use. But medical and scientific experts said a total ban on aerial spraying of triazines -- atrazine and simazine -- in water catchments was now justified. Although banned in Europe, triazines are still widely used in Australia to control weeds in forest plantations and in crops such as canola, sugar cane, maize, sorghum and lupins.
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