All Posts Tagged With: "Syngenta"
Syngenta Responds to Activist Claims Regarding Atrazine
Backed by 6,000 studies and 50 years of use, atrazine can be used safely.
(PRWEB) January 15, 2010 — For 50 years, sound science has governed U.S. regulatory decisions on atrazine, a well-studied herbicide that farmers rely upon worldwide to produce safe, healthy and abundant crops. Syngenta, as a science-based company, looks forward to a continuing, open and transparent safety review of atrazine by the U.S. EPA in 2010 and expects a positive outcome.
Last week, two environmental activist groups escalated their attacks on Syngenta and atrazine, urging a departure from the EPA’s methodical, science-based approach to regulating crop protection products such as atrazine. Syngenta believes these claims are baseless and wrong.
These activist groups urge the removal of safe, regulated crop protection tools farmers rely on to produce safe and abundant food for the world. It is estimated forty percent of the world’s food supply would not exist without the use of such products.
Committed to the highest ethical standards “Syngenta is committed to promoting and maintaining high standards of corporate responsibility worldwide in an industry that is essential to global agriculture and food production,” said Dr. Tim Pastoor, principal scientist for Syngenta Crop Protection. “The activist report is an irresponsible and defamatory characterization of our company’s efforts to implement high standards of stewardship for the safe, effective and environmentally responsible use of its products. Our people are committed to the highest level of ethical standards in all our business practices.”
Transparent review of the best science EPA’s 12-year evaluation completed in 2006 found atrazine poses “no harm that would result to the general U.S. population, infants, children or other … consumers.”
To reach its conclusion, EPA required that Syngenta initiate studies defined by the EPA and conducted using internationally recognized Good Laboratory Practices.
“Syngenta is required by the EPA to conduct a long list of mandatory high-quality studies under rigorous scrutiny by the agency,” said Pastoor. “Every data point is available to verify the studies were done properly and the science can be verified by EPA scientists. Recently cited studies by activist organizations are not required to adhere to the same standards. The EPA’s recent evaluation reviewed the best science in its regulatory decision, so these activist calls for yet another review of atrazine would only be repeating the work that has been done already.”
Read the rest of this press release here.
Syngenta stands behind the safety of atrazine
Crop protection products play a crucial role in bringing abundant and affordable food to our dinner tables. Forty percent of the world’s food supply would not exist without products like atrazine, a herbicide that helps farmers fight weeds in their corn, sorghum and sugar cane crops.
After 50 years of use, growers have come to rely on atrazine. It is a mainstay of American agriculture. And it is one of the best studied herbicides available today. Safety reviews around the world by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), World Health Organization, Canada, Australia and the UK have all come to the same science-based conclusion—atrazine, as labeled, can and has been used safely.
Atrazine is a critical tool for use in conservation tillage and no-till systems—farming methods that eliminate plowing and/or reduce tillage. Conservation tillage makes cropland much less vulnerable to soil erosion, which is reduced by as much as 90 percent when compared to intensive tillage. When soil erosion is prevented, so is the runoff into our waterways of sediment—identified by EPA as the top pollutant in US streams and rivers.
Farmers would not use a product that puts their own families and communities at risk, and after half a century, who would know better? Today, in part because of atrazine, farmers are able to grow more corn than ever, using environmentally sustainable methods. That means more food to feed a growing population.
Syngenta is a responsible company which takes the stewardship of all our products seriously—and atrazine is no exception. We’ve gone above and beyond the extensive studies required to register this product to ensure its safe and effective use. And as with all crop protection products, wide margins of safety exist with atrazine.
It’s easy to believe fear-provoking claims about our nation’s water when all the data and facts aren’t presented. Let’s be clear - water systems in the U.S. are safe where atrazine is concerned. Over the last three years, no water systems in the U.S. had atrazine levels in their drinking water that exceeded legal limits.
Read the rest of this article here.
Atrazine Celebrates 50 Years of Effective Weed Control
Greensboro-Winston-Salem-High Point, NC - This season marks the 50th anniversary of atrazine, one of the most valuable crop protection products ever developed. Throughout these years, growers have relied on atrazine for efficient, cost-effective control of a wide range of broadleaf weeds and grasses.
- Atrazine, considered the most studied herbicide, has been used for 50 years
- Over half of the U.S. corn acres, two-thirds of sorghum acres and up to 90 percent of sugar cane acres use atrazine to control weeds
- One of the most reliable, flexible tools growers can use to protect crops from yield robbing weeds
“Time has proven that atrazine is one of the most reliable, flexible tools growers can use to protect crops from yield-robbing weeds,” said Chuck Foresman, technical brand manager for Syngenta. “Well over half the corn acres, about two-thirds of sorghum acres and up to 90 percent of sugar cane acres in the United States use atrazine to control weeds.”
Triazine herbicides were discovered by researchers at a Syngenta legacy company in the early 1950s, and atrazine was introduced to growers for the 1959 season. As the original developer, Syngenta plans to celebrate atrazine’s anniversary throughout the year.
The product is known for economical and effective weed control and the ability to enhance the performance of other products.
“Atrazine is an economical option that helps us control problem weeds like velvetleaf, vines and morningglory,” said grower Mat Muirheid of Oakley, Ill., who is a second-generation atrazine user. “We get more residual control for the cost, and that protects our yields.”
According to U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) estimates, atrazine helps corn growers like Muirheid save as much as $28 per acre. Besides protecting crops and grower profits, atrazine also supports conservation tillage systems that can reduce soil erosion by up to 90 percent, and can help delay the development of weed resistance.
Muirheid noted, “We also use atrazine to provide a different mode of action for weed control. We don’t want to develop weed resistance.”
Today, besides being available as a stand-alone herbicide, such as AAtrex® brands, more than 45 pre-mix products contain atrazine, including Lumax®, Lexar®, Expert® and Bicep II Magnum® brand herbicides from Syngenta. Foresman added that used in combination or rotation with other herbicides, atrazine also helps delay and manage weed resistance.
Because of its vital role in weed control and popularity in more than 60 countries around the world, atrazine has been carefully studied for years. World-renowned institutions including the World Health Organization, the National Cancer Institute and EPA all have studied atrazine and found no health concerns when used as directed.
“Atrazine continues to pass the most stringent regulatory standards for safety,” said Foresman. “In 2006, the EPA re-registered atrazine for crop protection use. And Syngenta works closely with growers in many watershed projects and in other stewardship programs to ensure that atrazine is used according to EPA guidelines and best management practices we’ve helped develop.”
Read the rest of this press release here.