Save Frogs From the Poison of Atrazine
For Save the Frogs Day on April 28, the Center for Biological Diversity needs your help to convince Congress to ban atrazine, a commonly used weedkiller and toxic chemical that threatens imperiled frogs, other wildlife and people across the United States.
Atrazine is a powerful endocrine disruptor. It interferes with natural hormone functions, inhibiting the reproduction, development and growth of fish, wildlife and humans.
Researchers have proven that atrazine chemically castrates and feminizes male frogs at concentrations up to 120 times lower than the levels allowed by the EPA. In people, it increases risk of breast cancer, prostate cancer and decreases sperm count.
Atrazine is the most commonly detected pesticide contaminant of ground, surface and drinking water. It's also extremely persistent in the environment: Atrazine is still being detected in France 15 years after its last application.
Ask Congress to save our waters and frogs from atrazine -- a poisonous chemical cocktail.
SUBJECT: Ban the Toxic Pesticide Atrazine
Dear [Decision Maker],
I urge you to support House Bill 4318, introduced by Rep. Keith Ellison (D-Minn.), which would ban the use of the pesticide atrazine in the United States. Atrazine is a widely used weedkiller linked to significant human and wildlife health concerns: endocrine disruption, birth defects, fertility problems and cancer. This toxic pesticide is found in nearly 95 percent of U.S. groundwater.
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Studies by Dr. Tyrone Hayes at the University of California at Berkeley show that atrazine interferes with animal reproduction and "assaults male sexual development." Dr. Hayes has demonstrated that atrazine chemically castrates and feminizes male frogs at concentrations lower than levels currently allowed by the Environmental Protection Agency -- exposure levels as low as 0.1 parts per billion (ppb) result in frog hermaphrodites. The EPA's threshold is dramatically higher: 12 ppb.
We need to remove toxins like atrazine from our waterways. There are better, safer alternatives to this harmful chemical, which has been banned in the European Union since 2007. Support House Bill 4318, a bill to ban the use of atrazine in the United States -- protect both people and the wildlife we love.
Thank you.
