US to study health effects of pesticide atrazine

(AFP)

The US Environmental Protection Agency announced Wednesday plans to study the human health effects of the popular weedkiller atrazine.

Once the research is completed the EPA will decide if it should adjust its current health risk assessment for the product, the agency said in a statement.

Atrazine, which is banned in the European Union, is used in the United States and other countries to kill weeds before and after the planting of many annual and perennial crops.

The EPA will look at any potential carcinogenic effects, non-carcinogenic effects on humans as well as any link to birth defects, low birth weight or premature births as have been mentioned in recent studies.