The World Health Organization’s cancer agency has declared atrazine—America’s second-most-used pesticide—a probable human carcinogen. Despite being banned in over 60 nations and linked to birth defects, cancer, and hormone disruption, the U.S. EPA is poised to reapprove it based on secret industry studies. This exposes a regulatory system that prioritizes corporate profits over public health and contradicts promises to protect Americans from harmful chemicals.
A leading global health agency declares the pesticide atrazine a probable human carcinogen.
- U.S. regulators are moving to reapprove this chemical despite it being banned in more than 60 nations.
- Atrazine is a known hormone disruptor linked to birth defects and contaminates the drinking water of 40 million people.
- The EPA's approval process relies on secret industry studies, not independent, verifiable science.
- This represents a policy choice that puts corporate profits ahead of public health and safety.
Naturalnews.com reports: The World Health Organization’s cancer research arm has declared the second most widely used pesticide in the United States a probable cause of cancer in humans. This finding places a glaring spotlight on the profound failure of U.S. regulators who are simultaneously moving to reapprove this toxic chemical, putting corporate profits ahead of public health and liberty. The International Agency for Research on Cancer announced on November 21 that atrazine is “probably carcinogenic to humans,” (IARC Monograph Volume 139, November 2024), a designation that stands in dramatic contrast to the Environmental Protection Agency’s continued tolerance of a substance banned in more than 60 nations.
The IARC classification was determined by a working group of 22 expert cancer researchers from 12 different countries. Their rigorous assessment, considered the global gold standard for cancer hazard identification, identified evidence from human epidemiological studies, animal studies and laboratory assessments confirming atrazine exhibits key characteristics of a carcinogen. These include DNA damage and oxidative stress, fundamental processes that can lead to the development of cancer.
Nathan Donley, environmental health science director at the Center for Biological Diversity, said, “It is outrageously irresponsible that we still allow use of this dangerous poison in the United States. This finding is just the latest indictment of the industry-controlled U.S. pesticide oversight process that is failing to protect people and wildlife from chemicals linked to numerous health harms.” (Center for Biological Diversity, Nov 22, 2024)
Overlooking dangerous contamination
The dangers of atrazine are not new. It is a known hormone-disrupting pesticide that has been linked to birth defects, multiple cancers and fertility problems like low sperm quality and irregular menstrual cycles. Astonishingly, this chemical contaminates the drinking water of 40 million people in the U.S., making it the nation’s most widely detected pesticide water contaminant. A 2024 study that followed nearly 50,000 pesticide applicators for more than two decades found that exposure to atrazine was correlated with early onset prostate and lung cancer, (Journal of the National Cancer Institute, 2024) providing a disturbing real-world confirmation of the laboratory findings.
The timing of the WHO announcement is particularly damning for the Trump administration. Just one month ago, the administration doubled down on its support for the chemical. This continues a pattern of pro-industry decisions that betray campaign promises. Following his reelection, President Trump pledged that his administration would “ensure that everybody will be protected from harmful chemicals, pollutants, [and] pesticides.” He nominated Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to lead Health and Human Services, stating Kennedy is “looking into [pesticides] very seriously because maybe it’s not necessary to use all of that.” Kennedy had specifically cited atrazine as among the worst pesticides and called for a ban.
Broken promises and industry capture
Despite this rhetoric, the administration’s actions tell a different story. In 2020, the first Trump administration reapproved atrazine, scrapping protections for young children and allowing for more water contamination. Donley observed, “Despite its rhetoric to the contrary, there is no better friend of atrazine than the Trump administration. Hiding behind the rhetoric of MAHA, EPA reapproval of a poison that’s likely to keep Americans sick for generations is moving ahead full steam.”
The fundamental problem lies in a corrupted regulatory process. The EPA’s pesticide approvals are based almost entirely on pesticide companies’ confidential assessments of their own products, which independent scientists cannot review for accuracy or bias. In contrast, IARC reviewers only consider published research that can be scrutinized by the independent scientific community for accuracy. This creates a system where the truth about a chemical’s danger is suppressed by the very companies that profit from its sale.
The consequences of this regulatory capture are devastating for human life. Atrazine has been designated by the state of California as a reproductive toxin. Exposure is strongly correlated with a birth defect in infants called gastroschisis, where children are born with their intestines protruding through their belly. This condition requires immediate surgery and a lengthy stay in neonatal intensive care, a heartbreaking start to life caused by a preventable chemical exposure.
When a poison is known to cause cancer, birth defects, and hormonal chaos, and it is banned across most of the developed world, its continued use in America is not an accident. It is a policy decision that values profits over people, and it demands immediate and forceful opposition from every citizen who values their health and freedom.
По материалам: http://www.planet-today.com/2025/11/who-declares-atrazine-probable-human.html