After researching John Snow and his “Ghost Map” of cholera cases in Victorian London for the podcast, it’s quite possible I’m hyperaware of water-quality issues. News that atrazine, a popular herbicide, exceeded federal safety limits in several states’ drinking water had me looking for Georgia on the list and wondering if Brita filters take care of things like that. (Georgia’s clear by the way, and simple filters do cut out atrazine — at least according to the National Research Defense Council.)

But it seems like everyone’s talking about atrazine this week. The New York Times published a feature possibly linking the weed killer to birth defects and menstrual problems. Low exposures in utero have also made research animals more susceptible to cancer. Research from Purdue University suggests that even small concentrations — 0.1 parts per billion — can cause low birth weights.

The EPA, however, has taken a fairly sunny outlook on all the data, especially considering levels of atrazine spike to their highest during summer months. After reviewing new research, the agency said the studies didn’t suggest “birth defects, small-for-gestational-age, or effects on limb development” would occur with exposure to environmental levels of atrazine.

The agency’s own researchers have questioned the safety of atrazine in the past, though, publishing findings in the journals Toxicology and Applied Pharmacology on connections between late puberty, cancer and atrazine in rat fetuses.

I’d bet that between all this hype and the EPA’s new administrator, the agency might decide to take another look at this suddenly infamous herbicide. But the debate over safety levels could rage on for a while. In the meantime, I might change my carbon-based water filter and hold the extra atrazine.

More:
How Water Works
How the EPA Works
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