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Updates from the Daily News Blog

Report on Pesticide Contamination of Nation’s Groundwater Shows Widespread Exposure and Health Threats
October 15, 2025

Pesticides Persist in Indoor Dust, Drinking Water and Urine in Households, According to Indiana Study
July 15, 2025

DDT Metabolite (DDE) and Other Banned Pesticides Found in Blood Sample of African American Women in Detroit
May 14, 2020

Acute Pesticide Incidents May Lead to Loss of Smell
January 23, 2019

2,4-D and Atrazine Effects on Endangered Species Focus of Another Lawsuit
February 17, 2015

Federal Report Finds Stream Health Severely Degraded
July 19, 2013

French Court Finds Monsanto Guilty of Pesticide Poisoning
February 14, 2012

Study Shows Increased Diabetes Risk from Pesticide Exposure
June 6, 2008

Wisconsin Passes Stricter Herbicide Limits
August 24, 2007

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Alachlor

General Information

• Fact Sheet: Alachlor.pdf
• Product Names:

  Bullet (Monsanto), formulated with Atrazine
  Lasso (Monsanto)
  Lariat (Monsanto), formulated with Atrazine
  Freedom (Monsanto), formulated with Trifluralin
  Ala-Scept (BASF), formulated with Imazaquin

• Chemical Class: Acetanilide herbicide
• Uses: Preplant, preemergent, at plant herbicide for corn and soybeans, post-transplant, postemergent, and at ground crack herbicide for peanuts only, broadleaf weeds and grasses
• Alternatives: Organic agriculture
• Beyond Pesticides rating: Toxic

Health and Environmental Effects

• Cancer: Likely in High Doses (1)
• Endocrine Disruption: Probable (2)
• Reproductive Effects: Not documented
• Neurotoxicity: Not documented
• Kidney/Liver Damage: Yes (3)
• Sensitizer/ Irritant: Yes (3)
• Birth/Developmental: Yes (4)
• Detected in Groundwater: Yes (3)
• Potential Leacher: Not documented
• Toxic to Birds: Not documented
• Toxic to Fish/Aquatic Organisms: Yes (3)
• Toxic to Bees: Not documented

Additional Information

• Regulatory Status:
  • EPA Reregistration Eligibility Decision (RED) signed (9/1998)
• Supporting information:
  • Daily News Blog entries (Beyond Pesticides)
  • Extoxnet Alachlor Factsheet (Extension Toxicology Network)
  • PAN Pesticides Database: Alachlor (Pesticide Action Network)
• Studies [compiled from the Pesticide-Induced Diseases Database]
  • Incident Diabetes and Pesticide Exposure among Licensed Pesticide Applicators: Agricultural Health Study, 1993–2003. Montgomery et al. American Journal of Epidemiology 2008 167(10):1235-1246
  • High Pesticide Exposure Events and Dream-Enacting Behaviors Among US Farmers. Yuan, Y., Shrestha, S., Luo, Z., Li, C., Plassman, B.L., Parks, C.G., Hofmann, J.N., Beane Freeman, L.E., Sandler, D.P. and Chen, H. (2022), High Pesticide Exposure Events and Dream-Enacting Behaviors Among US Farmers. Mov Disord, 37: 962-971. https://doi.org/10.1002/mds.28960
  • Pesticide Use and Relative Leukocyte Telomere Length in the Agricultural Health Study. Andreotti G, Hoppin JA, Hou L, Koutros S, Gadalla SM, et al. (2015) Pesticide Use and Relative Leukocyte Telomere Length in the Agricultural Health Study. PLOS ONE 10(7): e0133382. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0133382
  • Occurrence of Current-Use Pesticides in Paired Indoor Dust, Drinking Water, and Urine Samples from the United States: Risk Prioritization and Health Implications. Xie, Y., Li, J., Salamova, A., & Zheng, G. (2025). Occurrence of Current-Use Pesticides in Paired Indoor Dust, Drinking Water, and Urine Samples from the United States: Risk Prioritization and Health Implications. Environmental science & technology, 59(25), 12507–12519. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.5c00961
  • Monitoring of pesticides in surface water, pesticides removal efficiency in drinking water treatment plant and potential health risk to consumers using Monte Carlo simulation in Behbahan City, Iran. Rezaei Kalantary, Roshanak et al. “Monitoring of pesticides in surface water, pesticides removal efficiency in drinking water treatment plant and potential health risk to consumers using Monte Carlo simulation in Behbahan City, Iran.” Chemosphere vol. 286,Pt 1 (2022): 131667. doi:10.1016/j.chemosphere.2021.131667
  • Incident diabetes and pesticide exposure among licensed pesticide applicators: Agricultural Health Study, 1993-2003. Montgomery, M. P., Kamel, F., Saldana, T. M., Alavanja, M. C., & Sandler, D. P. (2008). Incident diabetes and pesticide exposure among licensed pesticide applicators: Agricultural Health Study, 1993-2003. American journal of epidemiology, 167(10), 1235–1246. https://doi.org/10.1093/aje/kwn028
  • Multidecadal Change in Pesticide Concentrations Relative to Human Health Benchmarks in the Nation’s Groundwater. Stackpoole, S., Lindsey, B. and Nell, C. (2025) National Water Quality Program: Multidecadal Change in Pesticide Concentrations Relative to Human Health Benchmarks in the Nation’s Groundwater, U.S. Geological Survey. Available at: https://pubs.usgs.gov/sir/2025/5081/sir20255081.pdf.
  • Carcinogenicity of atrazine, alachlor, and vinclozolin. Cattley, R. C., De Roos, A. J., Mandrioli, D., Pearce, N., Pronk, A., Soshilov, A., Abarikwu, S. O., Baldi, I., Barr, D. B., Freeman, L. E. B., Bortoli, S., Connolly, A., Dalvie, M. A., Ferreira, M. J., Genter, M. B., Le Hégarat, L., Lorenzetti, S., McLaughlin, J. R., Møller, P., Montagner, C. C., … Schubauer-Berigan, M. K. (2025). Carcinogenicity of atrazine, alachlor, and vinclozolin. The Lancet. Oncology, S1470-2045(25)00702-8. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1470-2045(25)00702-8
  • Pesticide Prioritization by Potential Biological Effects in Tributaries of the Laurentian Great Lakes. Oliver, S.K., Corsi, S.R., Baldwin, A.K., Nott, M.A., Ankley, G.T., Blackwell, B.R., Villeneuve, D.L., Hladik, M.L., Kolpin, D.W., Loken, L., DeCicco, L.A., Meyer, M.T. and Loftin, K.A. (2023), Pesticide Prioritization by Potential Biological Effects in Tributaries of the Laurentian Great Lakes. Environ Toxicol Chem, 42: 367-384. https://doi.org/10.1002/etc.5522