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Matthew Denholm | April 11, 2009
Article from: The Australian
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.
Studies have linked the chemicals to cancers and disorders of the human endocrine (reproductive, hormonal and nervous) systems.
Tasmanian Director of Public Health Roscoe Taylor told The Weekend Australian he was uneasy about these health risks and about ongoing aerial spraying of triazines in water catchments.
"I still have concerns about widespread broad-acre application by aerial spraying methods in drinking catchments," he said.
While concern about some chemicals could be addressed with tighter codes and regulation, the use of others -- such as simazine and atrazine -- did not appear justified.
Triazines are frequently detected in Tasmanian rivers and have been banned from use in the Macquarie River catchment because of repeated contamination. Testing in mainland states is less regular, but in 2006 atrazine was found in low levels in the drinking water of three Murray River towns.
The new research, commissioned by Tasmania's Department of Primary Industries and Water, confirms Dr Taylor's suspicions that triazines persist for far longer in cool climates. "That has now been researched and demonstrated to be the case; the degradation of (triazines) by microbes and other organisms does not happen as quickly -- at least twice as slow -- in cool climates," he said.
Tasmanian authorities believe the findings may also be relevant to cooler parts of mainland states, such as highland NSW, the ACT and Victoria.
Dr Taylor said the Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority (APVMA) should rethink its stance that triazines are not capable of disrupting human endocrine systems.
APVMA public affairs manager Simon Cubit said longer chemical persistence in cooler climates was already factored into guidelines. However, the authority would assess the "regulatory implications" of the new research and it was possible a change was needed.
Tasmanian Primary Industries and Water Minister David Llewellyn confirmed that the research "provides cause for reviewing the controls on the use of triazines in Tasmania".
"The Tasmanian authorities are considering the issue and are working with the APVMA," Mr Llewellyn said. "Additional regulatory controls will also be introduced as part of the current process of reform of agricultural chemical use."
The Tasmanian Agricultural Productivity Group said while tighter controls might be needed in some cases, a ban on aerial spraying was unjustified and would "make impossible some productive farming".
However, Dr Taylor pointed to studies showing that savings made by using triazines were minimal. One estimated that halting triazine use would increase costs by just 1 per cent, while there was no decrease in corn yields after Italy and Germany banned atrazine in 1991.
Dr Taylor said he also held concerns for animals exposed to the chemicals in rivers and streams into which they are washed by rainfall.
"There does seem to be emerging evidence of ... potential harm at low concentrations for aquatic species -- frogs, for example," he said.
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