I know at times I may come off as some wackadoo that believes in a great conspiracy. As one commenter said “If all this stuff is bad for us then why do they sell it?” Yes, it is true. I talk a great deal on this blog about all of the MANY things that we may be eating, wearing, or using in our homes that are down right dangerous…and yet allowed to be sold to us on the open market. I truly believe that corporate greed comes before public health and I stumbled upon another story that shows this very succinctly.
Strawberry growers in California and Florida want to use a very toxic chemical called methyl iodide to fumigate their crops. A company called Arysta manufactures this chemical and they REALLY want to sell it to these growers. But there is a problem….methyl iodide is a neurotoxin and a carcinogen, it causes mutation in DNA, and it is highly dangerous for pregnant women, fetuses, and the elderly. Oh and it causes a little environmental problem…it contributes to ozone layer depletion and was banned under an International treaty many years ago.
So it seems that this is a slam dunk case. Methyl iodide is dangerous and we shouldn’t spray it on our food or the soil that will grow our food. At least 54 scientists, including five Nobel laureates in chemistry agree. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) does not agree. They have decided to allow this chemical to be used on our food… strawberries, tomatoes, and peppers as well as ornamentals, turf, trees and vines.
Robert Bergman of the UC Berkeley’s chemistry department led the effort by scientists to persuade the EPA to reject methyl iodide.
“It is potentially really toxic, and it’s certainly very reactive. From what we know about its chemistry, we know this stuff reacts with DNA. It mutates it. So it’s prudent to be as careful as you can with it,” Bergman said in an interview. He and other scientists asked the EPA to allow an independent review by the National Research Council and this request was rejected.
So what changed? Why is the EPA allowing this to happen? Arysta, has spent eight years and more than $11 million trying to persuade the EPA to register methyl iodide as a pesticide. AND Arysta’s former chief executive, Elin Miller, is now a top official at the EPA and was appointed administrator of its northwest region last year. Imagine that….the EPA hiring a chemical company mogul to protect the environment. I guess we can’t really expect that the Environmental “Protection” Agency actually plans on protecting us.
Check out the piece the LA Times did about this story here.
We grow our own strawberries and the flavor of our homegrown compared to storebought ones are way better. The farmers pick the strawberries green and let them ripen off the vine… thus why they don’t taste like a strawberry should.
This terrifies me. My husband is a chemist, and in his lab (where methyl iodide belongs!), discovered that he is especially sensitive to methyl iodide. When it comes into contact with his skin, the skin swells and blisters. He was exposed three times before he discovered what the cause was, and each time, the swelling went further up his arm. Too many exposures, and it will reach his vital organs.
See, that’s the truly scary thing about methyl iodide. It’s a sensitizer, which means that every time you’re exposed to it, you’re more like to have an adverse reaction. So if people start getting exposed as fruit-eating children . . .
Ugh. We currently eat a mix of organic and non, out of budget concerns. This convinced me that it’s time to switch entirely to small-farm local organic, even though it’s expensive.
This is so scary! I live in California so it hits close to home for me.
We are currently buying our fruit (or most of it) though a local CSA that grows organically, but we do still buy from the store. I will be sure NOT to buy conventionally grown strawberries from now on just in case!
BTW, I love your blog. I was referred to it by a friend.
I hate that people spray pesticides on fruit that people eat. The fruit looks so wonderful and fresh but could kill you.
We grow our own strawberries and many other vegetables in our large garden. We use no products and our veggies and such come out looking just fine.
Scary! I have heard that berries in general contain the MOST amount of chemicals, toxins, etc….so if you’re going to buy anything organic, it should be berries. :) Makes perfect sense to me!
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That makes my blood boil, and we wonder where autism and the like is coming from? Hello!!!!
Thank you for getting this out there. The more people that read it the better. For some reason people still think the government is there to protect them, but the opposite is the truth – they are only there to protect corporate interests at the expense of our health. Great article, thanks!
I’m not 100% positive on this, but it was Methyl Bromide that was the ozone-depleting chemical. Since it was banned, there was a rush to find something else to use on strawberries. That’s why they’re switching to Methyl Iodide. I can’t find anything about Methyl Iodide being ozone depleting.
I have informed my family that we’re not buying conventional strawberries anymore. It’ll have to be organic or come from our own berry patch. Makes one wonder about who’s pocket the EPA is in….
According to the chemist I live with, methyl iodide is less volatile than methyl bromide, so it probably is less danger to the ozone layer. However, it’s more dangerous to people (don’t imagine that methyl bromide was safe for people though).
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Mom’s Blogging Carnival – Dec 3, 2007 Edition…
Welcome to the December 3, 2007 edition of mom’s blogging carnival. Due to the high number of submissions received I am posting this carnival a little earlier than planned. Thank you to all the authors who submitted new articles for this edit…
Thank you for submitting this article to Mom’s Blogging Carnival. I just noticed the ping/trackback is rather wordy. Sorry about that.
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