Bob McMahon, Alison Bleaney
“Atrazine is even banned in Angola! How much more Third World can Australia be than to allow this toxic substance into the air, the water and the food chain?” he said.
DR Tyrone Hayes, Professor of Integrative Biology at UCAL Berkley USA spoke at a forum organized by community groups entitled AIR, FOOD, WATER — A TASMANIAN CATASTROPHE, at the Tailrace Centre on Saturday.
He presented his research and the research of others which establishes a link between endocrine disruption causing deformities in amphibians and mammals as a result of exposure to atrazine and other herbicides. In Tasmania atrazine is used in agriculture and on a large scale in tree plantations.
“Atrazine is banned in the EU where it is manufactured, because both it and simazine could not be used at all and stay below the EU standard of .01 parts per billion,” stated Prof Hayes. “The World Health Organization has a standard of 2 parts per billion and the USA 3 parts per billion. Australia allows 40 parts per billion which is 400 times the original EU standard. This is seriously wrong. The population is being poisoned. I have refused to drink the water in Tasmania and so should all Tasmanians.”
“Atrazine is even banned in Angola! How much more Third World can Australia be than to allow this toxic substance into the air, the water and the food chain?” he said.
Professor Hayes was asked about cyanazine (one of the triazines) used in Tasmania. “In 1999 the manufacturing company removed it from sale in the USA because of toxicity,” he said. “That’s about as damning as you can get.” Cyanazine is banned in most of Africa and in Denmark, Finland, Germany, Netherland and Slovenia. But it is still used in Tasmania. Typically cyanazine is used on field peas, chick peas, onions, potatoes, sweet corn, lentils and fava beans.
The FORUM unanimously passed the following resolutions.
1. This FORUM demands a complete ban in Tasmania on the use of simazine, cyanazine and atrazine, the last banned in the EU since 2003.
2. This FORUM demands a complete Tasmanian ban on the use of all pesticides in drinking water catchments.
3. This FORUM demands a complete and immediate end to MIS funded tree plantations.
4. This FORUM demands the immediate establishment of an independent EPA (Environmental Protection Authority) in Tasmania.
