| Abstrakt: |
Atrazine (ATZ) is the third most widely used herbicide in Argentina (10 000 t year−1) and is approved for sugar cane, flax, corn, sorghum, and tea. An assessment of the ATZ environmental impacts was conducted at the request of the Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development of Argentina. A review of 541 national and international technical and scientific reports and a survey among agricultural technicians, applicators, and producers was done. The survey revealed that 94% of ATZ applications are terrestrial and use diversion exists, associated mainly with soybean cultivation. Atrazine was reported at high frequencies (50%–100%) in surface and groundwater, sediments, and soils, sometimes exceeding permitted limits. Several sublethal effects induced by ATZ on invertebrate and vertebrate species were found, sometimes at concentrations lower than those in water quality guidelines (<3 µg L−1) or the environmental concentrations found in Argentina. Available epidemiological or human health studies of local populations are extremely scarce. This assessment also demonstrated that herbicides are ubiquitous in the environment. The investigation highlights the need for further studies assessing the adverse effects of ATZ on local species, ecosystems, and human health. Therefore, the precautionary principle is recommended to promote better application standards and product traceability to reduce volumes entering the environment and to avoid use deviation. In addition, this work concluded that there is a need for reviewing the toxicological classification, establishing buffer zones for ATZ application, introducing specific management guidelines, and expanding local studies of toxicity, ecotoxicity, and human epidemiology for environmental and health risk assessments. This study could also serve as a preliminary risk evaluation for establishing a final regulatory action and for considering ATZ inclusion in Annex III of the Rotterdam Convention. Finally, the requirements to consider its inclusion in Annex A (Elimination) or B (Restriction) of the Stockholm Convention were evaluated and discussed, and information on the potential of long‐range transport was the only criterion with no information to consider. Integr Environ Assess Manag 2023;19:684–697. © 2022 SETAC Key Points: Atrazine (ATZ) is ubiquitous in soil, surface and groundwater, atmosphere, drain water, sediments and biota, and has been detected in the 50%–100% of surface water samples, sometimes at concentrations higher than the permitted limits.The lack of concentration guideline levels for ATZ in different environmental matrices (only available for surface water), and the scarce information about ATZ and metabolite concentrations in food, biota, superficial water, groundwater, and air is highlighted.There is an urgent need for information about herbicide‐use statistics, epidemiological data on exposure, risk and health impacts, and environmental risk assessment, aiming to help decision analysis and develop regulatory policies.The possible inclusion of ATZ in Annex A (elimination) or Annex B (restriction) of the Stockholm Convention, and Annex III of the Rotterdam Convention is discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
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