Herbicides Contaminate Midwest Drinking Water

Tap water in the Corn Belt is dangerously contaminated with agricultural weedkillers, posing serious health risks, according to a study released on Thursday by the Environmental Working Group.

Herbicides were found in the drinking water of almost all 29 cities and towns tested. At 18, the levels exceeded federal safety standards.

The worst violations were found in Danville, Ill., where the level of the weedkiller cyanazine in one sample was 34 times the federal standard. In Fort Wayne, Ind., a single glass of water showed nine kinds of herbicides.

More than two dozen sites in the Midwest were tested, along with New Orleans and Baltimore. Large concentrations of herbicides were found in New Orleans from the Mississippi River.

The findings were “a little worse than we had expected,” said Richard Wiles, one of the authors of the study and a vice president of the Environmental Working Group, a private environmental research and advocacy organization in Washington.

He estimated that 20 to 25 million Americans drink water with herbicides. The problem is particularly acute during the growing season, from May through August, when the powerful chemicals are used to kill weeds harmful to corn.

Some health experts said the tainted drinking water could pose health risks, especially to infants and children.