Six Kansas cities have signed onto a

lawsuit against the maker of the weed killer atrazine.

A report states that the Kansas plaintiffs are

Marion, Dodge City, Plains, Carbondale, Oswego and the Miami County

Rural Water District No. 2. They are among 16 water systems in six

states asking Syngenta for more than $75,000 each to cover the

expense of treating water for atrazine.

Atrazine is a popular herbicide that has been used to kill

grasses and broadleaf weeds for decades. Its levels tend to spike

as atrazine-containing herbicides are applied during the spring

planting season.

The lawsuit – filed in March in U.S. District Court in southern

Illinois – claims atrazine exposure has been linked to birth

defects, low birth weights and premature births