Health Canada announced it's endorsing the continued use of Syngenta's Atrazine, a dangerous pesticide that has been banned in the European Union since 2004.

The news -- released quietly right before the winter holidays -- has gone largely unnoticed in the press. But it's a huge deal, Atrazine has been linked with breast and prostate cancer, reduced fertility, genital deformities and birth defects.

Health Canada is required by law to open this decision up to the public. But we only have a week to tell Canada's health agency we don't want these dangerous pesticides contaminating our food, our water and our bodies.

Tell Health Canada that if it's too dangerous for Europe, it's too dangerous for Canadians.

Syngenta is a corporation well known to many SumOfUs members and bee-lovers -- it produces neonics, the chemical linked to mass bee die-offs.

Atrazine is particularly scary because of what it does to water -- it is likely the number one contaminant found in drinking water in the world. It's also incredibly mobile which makes it even more dangerous: Atrazine can travel hundreds of kilometres by air only to end up in local streams and rivers where it can wreak even more havoc.

Health Canada's own research shows Atrazine contaminated one in ten groundwater samples. In the U.S., where the use of Atrazine is much higher, it contaminated one in five. That's where Canada is heading if we let this approval happen.

Sign the petition to Health Canada: Ban the use of Atrazine in Canada.

Syngenta has gone to great lengths to hide Atrazine's dangerous effects -- and silence anyone who disagrees. It hired a scientist to conduct safety experiments on Atrazine. When his findings showed that Atrazine reversed the sex of frogs and caused dangerous long-term and multi-generational impacts, Syngenta fought back.

This time, we're going to fight back. Syngenta has spent millions worldwide lobbying governments, discrediting scientists and promoting its toxic pesticides. Let's come together and stop the sale of Atrazine in Canada today.

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More information:

Special Review of Atrazine: Proposed Decision for Consultation, Health Canada Decision, Dec 15, 2015

Atrazine: The Latest Pesticide on Trial, Civil Eats, Dec 22, 2015