EPA Releases Draft Triazine Ecological Risk Assessments for Comment

EPA Releases Draft Triazine Ecological Risk Assessments for Comment EPA is releasing the draft ecological risk assessments for atrazine, propazine and simazine, which evaluate risks to animals and plants including, amphibians, birds, mammals, fish, reptiles, aquatic invertebrates, aquatic plant communities, and terrestrial plants. All three pesticides are in the triazine class of pesticides. EPA invites stakeholders to comment on the draft ecological risk assessments when the Federal Register notice publishes and the public comment period opens within a week. The draft assessments are currently available on the agency’s website. EPA will be accepting public comments for 60 days after the Federal Register publishes. After receiving and reviewing public comments, the agency will amend the assessments, as appropriate. EPA will have atrazine's assessment peer reviewed by the Scientific Advisory Panel in 2017. With regard to atrazine, the herbicide is one of the most widely used agricultural pesticides in the United States. It is used primarily on corn and sorghum in the Midwest and sugarcane in the South Central and Southeastern United States to control broadleaf and grassy weeds. EPA’s human health assessment for the three triazines is currently under review, and we expect to release it later in 2016. Read the triazine draft ecological risk assessments on EPA’s Website. On this page, you will find a pre-publication copy of the Federal Register notice and the draft risk assessments until the public comment period begins. Once the Federal Register notice publishes, the assessments and all related materials will be available on and comments can be submitted at www.regulations.gov in dockets EPA-HQ-OPP-2013-0266 (atrazine); EPA-HQ-OPP-2013-0250 (propazine); and EPA-HQ-OPP-2013-0251 (simazine).