Living Downstream: A Scientist's Personal Investigation of Cancer and the Environment

Atrazine is one of the most common herbicides used to control selected grasses and weeds before they grow. Most notably used on corn crops and sugarcane, it is also used on wheat, selected nuts, and fruits, as well as nonagricultural products such as residential lawns and golf courses. Atrazine is known to contaminate drinking water and has been overwhelmingly linked to birth defects and prostate and breast cancer in humans and other animals. Atrazine has been banned in several US counties and by the European Union.

DDT is an agricultural insecticide banned in the US in 1972. Contamination comes through eating meat, fish, and dairy contaminated with the chemical and can last a long time in the tissues of animals. DDT is stored in the fatty tissues of humans and can be easily passed on to a fetus or nursing infant through breast milk. Low levels of DDT have an unknown effect on human health; however, high exposure can result in significant health issues, including seizures. While DDT has been shown to cause liver and reproduction problems in laboratory animals, its link to incidence of cancer in humans is likely but not yet proven.