The combination of birth defects that claimed my unborn daughter may have had a cause. An herbicide commonly used in the midwest called Atrazine causes similar birth defects to those to which she succumbed. The scary part? Not only is the substance legal (its use has been banned in the EU for nearly a decade), its lobbyists are powerful.

Our government is lying to us about our tainted water supply from the effects of this herbicide. Scientists have known for quite some time, as have insiders in the corn industry. It's time you knew. Let's hear it in their own words.

I will let the EPA first confirm Atrazine is in the water supply:

"Given [...] the documented presence of atrazine in both drinking water sources and other bodies of water, we determined it appropriate to review the state of the science in light of the new research and to ensure that the agency’s regulatory decisions continue to protect public health and the environment."

So Atrazine is in the water supply. How does it get there? The EPA says:

"When atrazine is applied during the growing season, water bodies receive episodic and highly variable amounts of atrazine runoff from agricultural fields."

I will let the EPA admit Atrazine affects reproduction:

"Reproductive effects are the most sensitive effects observed in atrazine toxicity tests" also, "Change in hormone levels is the most sensitive health effect observed in an extensive battery of atrazine toxicity tests."

(FUN FACT: Atrazine causes frogs to become hermaphrodites, but the party that decided that claim was inconclusive was funded by Syngenta, the overseas manufacturer of . . . you guessed it! Atrazine!)

I will let the EPA confirm Atrazine is most prevalent in the midwest, where I have lived nearly all my life:

"Currently, an intensive monitoring program to look for atrazine residues in drinking water from approximately 30 community water systems (CWS) is ongoing. These systems, located primarily in the Midwest, are among the most vulnerable to atrazine exposure."

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention did a study on the effects on Atrazine as well:

"Gastroschisis and omphalocele are congenital abdominal wall defects (AWD). Atrazine and nitrates are common agricultural fertilizers"

and concluded:

"Indiana has significantly higher rates of AWD [abdominal wall defects] compared with national rates. Increased atrazine levels correlate with increased incidence of AWD."

Hey, I was born and raised in Indiana! I was covered head-to-toe in Indiana water at a waterpark around the time I conceived a baby with abdominal wall defect and chromosome deletion.

I will let the EPA admit they don't give a crap:

"[W]e have confirmed that none of the systems have exceeded our level of concern."

This is because the water supplies they tested, the public water "only" contained 37 parts per billion. Tell me, if Science can't tell us any amount of alcohol is safe during pregnancy, why can it tell us 37ppb is acceptable poison in our drinking water? How big is a human zygote? The answer is TINY.

So far my family has only experienced chromosome damage and fetal abdominal wall defects, but is that all the harm Atrazine causes? Who cares about a bunch of fetuses I guess, right? Oh, sorry, I hate to be a buzz kill on this bright morning but Atrazine also causes cancer and brain tumors. One group at most risk are children. That's right, the most common herbicide in the midwest, sanctioned by the EPA and FDA, causes childhood brain cancer and leukemia. I don't know about you, but when I was growing up, kids with cancer were in far off lands and fairytales. Now? I can count on several fingers real life friends of mine who have lost children to cancer. What. The. Fudgepop.

I asked the question recently why people don't know about the horrendous birth defects caused by Atrazine. The answer I got was because it hadn't happened to anyone "important". Maybe I'm not a big deal. I don't care if you ever learn to pronounce my 10-letter last name or forget my face the second you see it, but I want you to know I had another daughter and she was important to me. Her life wasn't nothing.

Her name was Ruby.

Sign this petition and tell the EPA that we won't tolerate our public water supply be poisoned with Atrazine anymore.