Food & Drink / Compounds / Alachlor

Alachlor in food: ingestion safety

Elevated risk

Not medical or professional safety advice, and not a substitute for a qualified clinician — consult one. Full disclaimer →

(People-specific data is limited; this page draws from human adult context.) Alachlor is a chloroacetanilide herbicide widely used on corn and soybeans. EPA classified it as Group B2 (probable human carcinogen) based on nasal turbinate tumors and stomach tumors in rats. Banned in the EU since 2006 (Commission Decision 2006/966/EC). In the US, EPA established an MCL of 2 ppb in drinking water. Primary exposure routes: occupational (applicators), dietary residues, and contaminated groundwater. Alachlor is metabolized to 2,6-diethylaniline (DEA) and alachlor ESA, both detected in groundwater across the US Corn Belt.

What is alachlor?

Also known as: Lasso, Metachlor, Alanox, 2-chloro-N-(2,6-diethylphenyl)-N-(methoxymethyl)acetamide.

CAS number
15972-60-8
Molecular formula
C14H20ClNO2
Molecular weight
269.77 g/mol
SMILES
CCc1cccc(c1N(COC)C(=O)CCl)CC
PubChem CID
2078

Risk for people

Elevated risk

Alachlor is a chloroacetanilide herbicide widely used on corn and soybeans. EPA classified it as Group B2 (probable human carcinogen) based on nasal turbinate tumors and stomach tumors in rats. Banned in the EU since 2006 (Commission Decision 2006/966/EC). In the US, EPA established an MCL of 2 ppb in drinking water. Primary exposure routes: occupational (applicators), dietary residues, and contaminated groundwater. Alachlor is metabolized to 2,6-diethylaniline (DEA) and alachlor ESA, both detected in groundwater across the US Corn Belt.

Regulatory consensus

3 regulatory and scientific bodies have classified Alachlor. The classifications differ — that's the data.

AgencyYearClassificationNotes
IARC—Group 2A - Probably carcinogenic to humans (IARC Monographs Volume 140)
EPA1998Group B2 — Probable human carcinogen
EU2006Banned — not approved under Regulation (EC) 1107/2009

Regulators apply different standards of evidence — animal-data weighting, exposure-pattern assumptions, epidemiological power thresholds — which is why two scientific bodies can review the same data and reach different conclusions. The disagreement is the data.

Where you encounter alachlor

  • Agricultural Water
  • Food
  • Soil

Safer alternatives

Lower-risk approaches that achieve a similar outcome to Alachlor:

  • S-metolachlor
    Trade-offs: Same chloroacetanilide class but lower application rate and reduced groundwater contamination. Not classified as carcinogen.
    Relative cost: Similar
  • Acetochlor
    Trade-offs: Similar efficacy; conditional registration with monitoring requirements.
    Relative cost: Similar

Frequently asked questions

Why do regulators disagree about alachlor?

Alachlor has been classified by 3 agencies including IARC, EPA, EU, with differing conclusions. Regulators apply different standards of evidence (animal data weighting, exposure-pattern assumptions, epidemiological power thresholds), which is why two scientific bodies can review the same data and reach different conclusions. See the regulatory consensus table on this page for the full picture.

See Alachlor in the food app

Look up products containing alachlor, compare to alternatives, and explore the full data record.

Open in food View raw API data

Sources (2)
  1. EPA Reregistration Eligibility Decision — Alachlor (1998) — epa
  2. IARC Monographs Volume 140 — Atrazine, alachlor, and vinclozolin (2025) — iarc

Reference data, not professional advice. Aggregates publicly available regulatory and scientific data; not a substitute for medical, legal, or regulatory advice. Why we built ALETHEIA →