Where do your strawberries come from?
The New York Times reported today on a growing dispute between the California State Department of Pesticide Regulation and a scientific committee over the approval of a new chemical in the growing of strawberries. It is another interesting example of where big agricultural interests trump the safety of you, me and our children.
For decades strawberry growers injected methyl bromide into their soil as a soil fumigant and structural fumigant to control pests before growing strawberries. However this chemical is an ozone-depleting chemical and it was banned by the Montreal Protocol international climate treaty.
Methyl iodide was found as a substitute in 2007. More than 50 chemists and scientists, including members of the National Academy of Sciences and Nobel laureates asked the federal Environmental Protection Agency not to approve the chemical. Nevertheless the California State Department of Pesticide Regulation has bestowed provisional approval for this chemical.
“This is without question one of the most toxic chemicals on earth,” said John Froines, a professor of environmental health sciences at the University of California.
Breathing methyl iodide fumes can cause lung, liver, kidney and central nervous system damage. It causes nausea, dizziness, coughing and vomiting. Prolonged contact with skin causes burns. Massive inhalation causes pulmonary edema.
But the strawberry business in California is a $2 billion industry. I wonder who will win this battle. I wonder even more about what else they spray on the food you, me and our children eat grown in California?
Richard Wottrich
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