CalEPA's OEHHA Proposes Listing Herbicide Atrazine as a Proposition 65 Carcinogen
SACRAMENTO — The California Environmental Protection Agency's Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) issued a notice of intent on October 9 to list the widely used herbicide atrazine as known to the state to cause cancer under the Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act of 1986, known as Proposition 65. Public comments are due by November 9, 2026.
The action is proposed under the "Labor Code" listing mechanism; OEHHA has determined the substance meets the criteria for listing by this mechanism. The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) has classified atrazine as "probably carcinogenic to humans." Because this is a ministerial listing, comments are limited to whether IARC has sufficiently identified the chemical as a human or animal carcinogen; OEHHA cannot consider scientific arguments about the weight or quality of IARC's evidence.
Atrazine is the second most widely used herbicide in the United States after glyphosate, applied heavily to corn, sorghum and sugarcane; California listed it as a reproductive toxicant in 2016. Comments must be received by November 9 through the OEHHA comments portal and will be posted at the close of the comment period. (GSM, from an OEHHA notice of intent, Oct. 9)
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：玉米田喷洒作业。阿特拉津广泛用于玉米等作物（来源：Wikimedia Commons，CC BY-SA 3.0）。
