Atrazine has been used in farms and highways for killing weeds for over 60 years. It is one of the most commonly used herbicides, with over 70,000-90,000 tons used yearly. It’s sprayed onto soils before or after growth, and can leak into water sources through run off. Other sources of entering the environment may be manufacturing, formulation, transportation or disposal. Atrazine can also be found in concentration in the air, although not common, it can be found in disposal areas or areas with recent applications of it. Atrazine in the air is commonly removed by rain, although when atrazine is attached to dust, it poses the ability to transport farther away with environmental factors such as wind. It can stay critically within soil for 8-60 days, and has a half life of 95-350 days. Within the soil, it breaks down relatively faster, while with water, the degradation happens over a period of 1-2 years. Atrazine in water sources has posed health and ecological effects, including the byproducts from atrazine degradation, which can produce deethylatrazine and deisopropylatrazine. These by-products can persist for decades, and also include posing dangers for terrestrial and water contamination, especially within drinking water sources.
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Information about sources of atrazine.