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Fact sheet: Methyl Bromide Use in California
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What is Methyl Bromide?
- Methyl bromide is a toxic pesticide that is injected into soil before
planting strawberries, grapes, almonds and other crops. It is also used to kill pests in stored commodities, in
agricultural shipments and in buildings.
- Because of its ability to cause poisonings, neurological damage and
reproductive harm, EPA classifies methyl bromide as a Toxicity Category I compound, the most deadly category of
substances.
- Methyl bromide is also a powerful ozone depleter and will be banned
in industrialized countries (including the U.S.) in 2005 under the international Montreal Protocol treaty. Ozone
depletion is linked to raising rates of skin cancer, eye cataracts and damage to key ecosystems.
Methyl Bromide in California
- California is one of the largest methyl bromide-using regions in the
world. In 1998, California farmers and other users applied nearly 14 million pounds of this pesticide.
- California strawberries are one of the largest single crop users of
methyl bromide in the U.S. and around the world. In 1998, over 4 million pounds of methyl bromide were applied
to California strawberry fields, accounting for 30% of the state's total use of this pesticide. Other large users
of the pesticide include grapes, almonds, ornamental/nursery plants, sweet potatoes and watermelons.
- Many schools in California are near farms where large quantities of
methyl bromide are used. In 1998, nearly 70,000 children attended public schools that were 1.5 miles or less from
fields treated with at least 10,000 pounds of methyl bromide, according to the Environmental Working Group.
Dangers to Human Health
- At least 19 people in California died from exposure to methyl bromide
from 1982 and 1997. In 1997, a Los Angeles woman died when the building next to her studio was fumigated with methyl
bromide. California physicians reported 454 cases of methyl bromide poisoning from 1982 to 1993.
- Methyl bromide is toxic to the central nervous system and can damage
lungs and kidneys and possibly cause cancer. Direct exposure to the pesticide can lead to headaches, blurred vision,
nausea and dizziness. Many farmworkers and residents near fumigated fields have experienced these symptoms.
- During the past decade, thousands of California residents have been
evacuated because of methyl bromide accidents, including Fresno (in 1987) Ceres (1984), Oxnard (1992) and Watsonville
(1990). In 1998 and 1999 residents, teachers and parents experiencing illnesses from methyl bromide organized community
actions around the state to prevent farmers from using toxic pesticides near their homes and schools.
- In October 1997, methyl bromide concentration levels at Salsipuedes
Elementary School in Watsonville were more than 10 times the state's safety standard following a fumigation at
an adjacent strawberry field. The air monitoring, conducted by private environmental organizations, detected methyl
bromide in air samples near the school as long as two days after the fumigation.
California Regulations Do Not Protect the Public
- In January 2000, the California Department of Pesticide Regulation issued
draft regulations on methyl bromide that do not protect school children, farmworkers or nearby residents from this
dangerous chemical. The regulation do not adequately restrict methyl bromide use near schools, do not give neighbors
enough warning about impending fumigations and do not provide protection to farmworkers from long-term exposure
of this pesticide.
- Environmental, consumer and farmworker groups across California are
extremely disappointed that Governor Davis did not take this opportunity to develop regulations that truly protect
the public from methyl bromide.
Safe Alternatives Exist
- In 1998, the U.N. Methyl Bromide Technical Options Committee concluded
there are existing alternatives for more than 95% of current methyl bromide uses. The Committee, made up of experts
from 33 countries, identified a wide range of alternatives for most uses of the pesticide. Alternatives are already
used by many California farmers and pest control companies:
- Organic strawberry growers use a variety of non-chemical alternatives,
including crop rotation, pest-resistant root stocks and biological control, to produce strawberries without methyl
bromide.
- Methyl bromide use in California vineyards has decreased dramatically
in recent years, including a 70% reduction from 1994 to 1998. Well-known vineyards such as Frey, Fetzer and Kendall-Jackson
have ended their use of methyl bromide.
- Existing non-chemical alternatives are much healthier for people, much
safer for the environment and do not deplete the ozone layer.
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