In a highly controversial decision, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) announced that atrazine, one of the most widely used herbicides in the U.S., poses no extinction risk to any of the 530 endangered or threatened species it evaluated. The move marks a stark departure from the EPA's 2020 draft assessment, which concluded that atrazine was likely to harm over 1,000 imperiled species.

The announcement, made on October 9, has fueled criticism that the Trump administration is continuing its trend of siding with Big Ag and chemical industry lobbyists at the expense of public and environmental health. The decision arrives just months after the MAHA commission-initially tasked with evaluating pesticide impacts-was widely seen as diluting its second report under pressure from agribusiness interests, after an initial version flagged serious health risks linked to atrazine.

"Yesterday's announcement makes clear that despite the rhetoric of MAHA, there will be no robust review of the dangers of pesticides by the Trump Administration," said Sylvia Wu, senior attorney at the Center for Food Safety. "Instead, a toxic poison like atrazine will continue to contaminate our lands and waters, making our children sick for decades to come."

Atrazine is banned in over 60 countries due to its status as a known endocrine disruptor, with links to birth defects, cancer, and reproductive harm. Yet in the U.S., it remains the second most used herbicide, primarily on field corn not consumed by humans, supporting confined animal feeding operations and other non-agricultural applications.

The FWS's draft biological opinion concluded that atrazine is "not likely to jeopardize" 502 of the 530 species assessed. For the remaining 28, it stated that "further analysis is required." The public now has 60 days to comment on the agency's findings.

Environmental and farming groups argue that this conclusion ignores decades of evidence and the chemical's persistence, mobility, and prevalence in waterways. Atrazine is routinely detected in water systems serving nearly 30 million Americans.

The Center for Food Safety, which previously sued the EPA over its 2020 reapproval of atrazine, contends the agency failed to fulfill its legal obligation to protect public health and the environment. In February, the organization joined conservation advocates and family farmers in petitioning a federal court to compel the EPA to take decisive action.

Whether the FWS decision will withstand public scrutiny and judicial review remains to be seen, but for now, advocates fear that one of America's most toxic agrochemicals will continue to flow unchecked through its ecosystems and communities.