"The finding effectively paves the way for continued use of atrazine, a widely used herbicide that has been linked to birth defects and cancer in humans."
"The Trump administration has determined that atrazine, a weedkiller used widely on corn and other crops, does not pose an extinction risk to threatened or endangered wildlife, effectively justifying its continued use, according to a federal review made public this week.
The findings were the latest turn in a yearslong policy battle over a herbicide that has become a pillar of food production in America, but has been linked to hormonal disruptions in frogs and contamination of waterways across the country, along with cancer and other diseases in humans.
The outcome of the review, by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, was a victory for agricultural groups, including the Farm Bureau Federation and the National Corn Growers Association. Farmers applied on average 72 million pounds of atrazine a year on 75 million acres of crops, mostly corn, sorghum and sugar cane, according to the most recently available data.
The agricultural lobby has argued that losing access to atrazine could sharply reduce crop yields and raise food costs. Atrazine’s primary manufacturer is Syngenta, owned by the Chinese conglomerate Sinochem."
Hiroko Tabuchi reports for the New York Times May 19, 2026.
