Silencing the Scientist: Tyrone Hayes on Being Targeted By Herbicide Firm Syngenta

The episode delves into the story of scientist Tyrone Hayes and his groundbreaking research on the herbicide atrazine, revealing its harmful effects on the endocrine system of frogs. Initially hired by a company that later became Syngenta to study atrazine’s impacts, Hayes discovered that the herbicide caused sexual abnormalities in frogs, including males developing eggs and turning into females. Despite his significant findings, Syngenta attempted to prevent him from publishing his work and discussing it with other scientists. As the conflict escalated, the company engaged in a campaign to discredit Hayes, manipulate data, and prevent the Environmental Protection Agency from banning atrazine. However, Hayes persisted in exposing the truth about atrazine’s harmful effects, and eventually, with the EPA’s intervention, he was able to publish his findings in prestigious scientific journals.

Through Tyrone Hayes’ experience with Syngenta’s attempts to silence his research on atrazine, viewers are guided to consider the implications of corporate interests conflicting with scientific evidence. The episode sheds light on the importance of scientific integrity and transparency in revealing the potential risks associated with widely used chemicals like atrazine. By highlighting Hayes’ perseverance in the face of corporate opposition and his ultimate success in disseminating his findings, the episode encourages viewers to critically analyze the information presented by companies and advocates for the protection of scientific research from external influence. It serves as a thought-provoking reminder of the challenges scientists may face when their findings challenge powerful entities, emphasizing the significance of upholding ethical standards in the pursuit of knowledge and truth.

We speak with a University of California scientist Tyrone Hayes, who discovered a widely used herbicide may have harmful effects on the endocrine system. But when he tried to publish the results, the chemical’s manufacturer launched a campaign to discredit his work. Hayes was first hired in 1997 by a company, which later became agribusiness giant Syngenta, to study their product, Atrazine, a pesticide that is applied to more than half the corn crops in the United States, and widely used on golf courses and Christmas tree farms. When Hayes found results Syngenta did not expect — that Atrazine causes sexual abnormalities in frogs, and could cause the same problems for humans — it refused to allow him to publish his findings. A new article in The New Yorker magazine uses court documents from a class-action lawsuit against Syngenta to show how it sought to smear Hayes’ reputation and prevent the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency from banning the profitable chemical, which is already banned by the European Union.