US EPA extends atrazine review

The US EPA is to schedule an additional session of its scientific advisory panel on pesticides to review data on the risks of the herbicide, atrazine, to human health. The Agency had scheduled three panel meetings as part of a year-long review of atrazine ( Agrow No 578, p 16). Data from the Agricultural Health Study (AHS) will not be available until 2011, so they cannot be reviewed at the September 2010 meeting as planned. A further session will be needed to address findings from the AHS and other epidemiology studies on cancer risks from atrazine. Non-cancer risks will be examined at the September meeting as planned.