When it comes to herbicide pollution, there's some good news...and some bad news

For the first time ever, Minnesota scientists have discovered a widely used herbicide in lakes far from agricultural lands.

The good news: of 53 lakes tested, seven lakes did not test positive for atrazine!

The bad news: all the rest did, including several trout lakes deep in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area, miles away from the nearest farm fields. Even Lake Nokomis in Minneapolis tested positive.

The study, carried out by the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) shows that atrazine and other herbicides are spread vast distances by wind and rain, contaminating lakes and wetlands across the nation.

Atrazine has made the news recently, including during a visit to Minnesota by renowned research scientist Dr. Tyrone Hayes. In March 2007, Dr. Hayes presented his research linking widespread amphibian decline with atrazine to a packed house of 250 at the University of Minnesota.

Dr. Hayes's published and peer-reviewed research demonstrates that atrazine, the second most widely used herbicide in the world, is a potent endocrine disrupter that demasculinizes male amphibians at very low concentrations -- far below the level considered "safe" by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

While the concentrations discovered in Minnesota's lakes are well below levels considered to be a risk to people or animals, Dr. Hayes' research brings to light the challenge facing Minnesota's waters. Current EPA standards allow for the widespread use of atrazine, but the herbicide is proving to have a far wider reach than previously thought. Combined with Dr. Hayes' research on the impact of the chemical on lower-order organisms at levels far below EPA standards, this study suggests it's time we re-examine the impacts of this potent chemical on our water resources.

The Star Tribune recently reported on the Minnesota lakes atrazine study.