Progress! Gov. Jerry Brown Will "Take a Fresh Look" at Methyl Iodide

There's reason to hope that a deadly poison may soon make its way out of our food supply.

California's Gov. Jerry Brown recently made an encouraging statement about methyl iodide, a pesticide so toxic that it's used in lab settings to grow cancer cells. The state's Department of Pesticide Regulation (CDPR) greenlighted the pesticide's use shortly before Governor Schwarzenegger left office, causing an uproar in the science, environmental, and public health communities. Groups like Pesticide Action Network, Californians for Pesticide Reform, and thousands of Change.org members have been pressuring Gov. Brown to reverse the decision ever since, but the governor stayed mum on the issue — until now.

According to the Ventura County Star, Governor Brown recently announced that he will take a "fresh look" at the methyl iodide decision, a sign that he may take action to reverse the approval of the neurotoxin. While the governor added that he has "no immediate strategy" on how to handle methyl iodide's approval, the fact that he's even opening this discussion up again is a step in the right direction.

Gov. Brown's commitment to take another look at methyl iodide follows two other bits of encouraging news. Mary-Ann Warmerdam, the head of CDPR who approved methyl iodide for use in the state, recently resigned from her post to take a job at Clorox (fitting, right?). Her vacancy leaves a chair open for a more health and environmentally conscious leader.

Then shortly after Warmerdam headed to Clorox, the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released some of its own news about methyl iodide. On March 17th, the agency opened up a public comment period on a petition filed a year ago by Earthjustice and a coalition of environmental, health, and farmworker advocacy non-profits. The petition asks the EPA to pull methyl iodide off the market, citing the pesticide's link to cancers, thyroid disease, kidney disease, late-term miscarriages, and neurological problems. The EPA initially approved methyl iodide back in 2007, one of the agency's last decisions under the Bush Administration (shocker). People have until April 29th to submit a comment and ask the EPA to give methyl iodide the boot.

All of these methyl iodide developments are steps in the right direction, but what's even more encouraging about them is that they prove an impressive point: Our collective opposition to methyl iodide is making an impact. Thousands of Change.org members have petitioned Gov. Brown to reverse methyl iodide's approval. Groups like Pesticide Action Network, Californians for Pesticide Reform, and Pesticide Watch are devoting a ton of resources to get a California and a national ban on the use of methyl iodide. And members of the science community — including six Nobel laureates — have come out in droves to advise against the use of this carcinogenic pesticide.

Methyl iodide is way too dangerous to be used on any of America's agricultural fields. Let's keep pushing until we get every state in the nation and the EPA to ban this noxious pesticide.

You can submit a comment to the EPA here. You can also sign this petition and join Pesticide Action Network in asking EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson to immediately pull methyl iodide off the market and support greener agricultural initiatives.

Photo credit: andypowe11 via Flickr