From The Garden Island:

Kaua‘i’s drinking water is safe and free of the chemical herbicide atrazine, according to David Craddick, manager of the Kaua‘i County Department of Water.

“For decades the department has been monitoring the water for the Waimea-Kekaha water system for a number of chemical contaminants including atrazine,” Craddick said in a news release Tuesday. “While trace amounts of atrazine were detected in some of our water systems, no trace of the chemical was ever found in our Waimea-Kekaha water system, and there has been no detection since 2005.”

Atrazine is one of the world’s most widely-used and controversial herbicides. Manufactured by Syngenta, it has been banned in Europe since 2004 due to groundwater contamination risks. Studies have also suggested it is associated with a number of health problems, including birth defects, cancer and reproductive issues. Read the full story.

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Photo courtesy shannonkringen.

—Chad Blair