Last Chance to Tell California to Deny Approval of Cancer-Causing Pesticide

Chomping into a sweet, succulent strawberry is so satisfying in the summer. Unless, of course, said strawberry is coated in a layer of a toxic, cancer-causing pesticide.

The scenario may seem extreme, but California is poised to approve such a chemical for use in crop fields. Sustainable Food blogger Kristen Ridley recently reported on the California Department of Pesticide Regulation's (CDPR) decision to propose registering methyl iodide, a substance used to intentionally induce cancer cells in lab settings. (Yes, you read that right: It's so toxic it's used to grow cancer cells). If the chemical earns approval for use in pesticides, California farmers will be able to spray the noxious compound all over food crops. The public has til June 29th to comment on the proposed registering, and for the sake of consumers, the environment, and farm workers, let's hope for a momentous public outcry.

If the fact that methyl iodide is used to create cancer cells wasn't incentive enough to rise up against the toxin, chew on a few more frightening facts: Even chemists—scientists who regularly handle elements like mercury and lead—are kinda scared to lay their gloved hands on methyl iodide. Even low doses of the chemical cause neurological damage and fetal death in lab animals, and it's also linked to thyroid disease. I know the toxin's good at killing insects, bacteria, and fungi, but it seems a little too skilled at killing people to warrant use on crops that we regularly eat.

Methyl iodide's trickily slid through regulatory hurdles for a number of years now, so the California case is seen as a key fight to finally halting the toxin's use. According to the San Francisco Chronicle, the pesticide was first approved in 2007 under the Bush administration (shocker). Despite protests from dozens of legislators, scientists, and environmental groups, the chemical received approval by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

Methyl iodide is licensed for use in 47 states, though its currently only used sparingly in Florida and the Carolinas because it's so expensive. If the pesticide becomes registered in California, though, its use could skyrocket: Methyl iodide is especially popular among strawberry farmers because the substance effectively kills soil-borne pests, which strawberries are particularly vulnerable to. Eighty percent of the nation's strawberries come from California. Given how prevalent farming is throughout the state, you can bet other crop-growers will be spraying the poison, too.

Kill methyl iodide use before the pesticide kills, well, us. Sign our petition asking the CDPR to deny approval of methyl iodide in California. The public also has til June 29th to email comments to the CDPR at mei_comments@cdpr.ca.gov.

Photo Credit: U.S. Navy via Wikimedia Commons