Atrazine

Atrazine is a selective systemic herbicide used to control annual grasses and broadleaved weeds, before and after emergence, in cereals — particularly corn and sorghum — as well as fruits, vegetables, coffee, oil palms, and sugarcane. It is often used in combination with other herbicides to broaden the weed spectrum. The US Environmental Protection Agency classifies it as slightly toxic (Toxicity Category III), but its persistence in soil and mobility into groundwater have made atrazine residues a long-running concern for drinking-water quality and food-safety monitoring. Maximum residue limits apply to treated crops, and watershed monitoring programmes track its presence where use is intensive.