Two weeks ago, Illinois Times published a story about the House Environmental Health Committee’s hearings on atrazine, a controversial weedkiller that’s been used by Illinois farmers for 50 years.

Supporters of the product say it reduces erosion and conserves soil and water by allowing farmers to till their land only during planting season. Although atrazine is banned in the European Union, the product is used on nearly two million corn acres in Illinois.

However, Dr. Tyrone Hayes, a scientist and professor at University of California Berkeley, has presented research on amphibians that shows a connection between atrazine and cancer and instances of de-castration among frogs. His research, he says, is consistent with other scientific studies have linked atrazine to breast and prostate cancer, low birth weight, declining testosterone levels, low sperm count and other health problems in rats, frogs, fish, birds and humans.

If you’d like to hear Hayes’ research firsthand, he’ll be presenting his findings Thursday, March 18 at 7 p.m. at the Brown Ballroom in Illinois State University’s Bone Student Center in Normal. “From Silent Spring to Silent Night: A Tale of Toads and Men” is part of the R. Omar and Evelyn Rilett Family Life Sciences Lecture Series.

Additionally, Hayes will present a seminar about atrazine-induced chemical castration on the same day at noon in Schroeder Hall Annex, room 238.