Atrazine アトラジン
Stop photosynthesis: Stop part of the photosynthesis mechanism (bentazone, DCMU and others).
In Japan
- Registration
- Registered as a pesticide (first registered April 27, 1965). 4 formulated products contain it.
- Main registered crops
- corn (maize), corn for feed, baby corn, sorghum, Japanese lawn grass, Job's tears (hatomugi) and others (7 crop names in the registered uses)
- Toxicity class
- Active ingredient: Ordinary substanceClasses of the 4 formulated products (diluted products sold): ordinary substance 4Classes under Japan's Poisonous and Deleterious Substances Control Act.
- ADI (acceptable daily intake)
- No risk assessment report by the Food Safety Commission of Japan was found
ADI: the amount considered to have no effect on health even if eaten every day for a lifetime. ARfD: the amount considered to have no effect on health when eaten at one time (within 24 hours). Both are set by the Food Safety Commission of Japan, mainly from animal studies.
In Japan's national residue testing (fiscal 2024)
| Produce | Detected / tested | Detection rate | Over the limit |
|---|---|---|---|
| Domestic | 0 / 4,516 | 0.0% | 0 |
| Imported | 3 / 3,968 | 0.1% | 1 |
Found in imported foods: Welsh onion (including leek), cacao beans (max. 0.03 ppm)
Tests are counted as pesticide × sample. Any detection counts as “detected” — it does not mean the limit was exceeded. For pesticides outside the top 20, figures are summed from the food-by-food tables of the full report.
Evaluations abroad
- WHO acute toxicity class
- III (Slightly hazardous), LD50 c2000 mg/kgBased on the toxicity of the undiluted active ingredient given once, mainly to rats by mouth (LD50 = the dose that kills half; the smaller, the stronger the acute toxicity). It is not an assessment of the safety of residues in food.
- EU
- Not approved in the EUEU ADI: 0.02 mg/kg bw/day; ARfD: 0.1 mg/kg bw
- IARC (carcinogenicity)
- Group 2A (probably carcinogenic to humans)Atrazine: Vol. 53, 73, 140 (evaluated 2025; in preparation)IARC classifications rate the strength of evidence that something can cause cancer, not the size of the risk at the amounts eaten in food.
Good to know
- IARC classified it in 2025 (Monograph Volume 140) as “probably carcinogenic to humans” (Group 2A) (the monograph itself is in preparation).
Related explainers
Sources
- FAMIC (Food and Agricultural Materials Inspection Center), pesticide registration information (as of Sept. 30, 2026) (Japanese)
- MHLW, results of pesticide residue testing in foods, fiscal 2024 (Japanese)
- WHO Recommended Classification of Pesticides by Hazard 2019
- EU Pesticides Database (Atrazine)
- IARC (International Agency for Research on Cancer) List of Classifications
Last checked 2026-10-01. Registrations and evaluations change over time. This page is a translation of our Japanese page; if they differ, the Japanese page is the reference.