Farmers and golf courses have used atrazine for decades. In Illinois, Indiana, Ohio and Kansas yearly average levels of atrazine were at least ten times the federal standard yet the US Environmental Protection Agency failed to inform residents.

EPA officials said atrazine is not a health hazard but a new report by Natural Resources Defense Council says adverse reproductive effects of atrazine have been seen in amphibians, mammals and humans, even at low levels of exposure.

The report states 75 percent of stream water and 40 percent of all groundwater samples from agricultural areas contained atrazine. NRDC recommends phasing out atrazine and implementing more effective monitoring.