Time to get methyl iodide away from strawberries

As we’ve written about in this space before, the sweet, juicy California strawberries we love to eat from mid-April straight through July are grown in soil that is often fumigated with methyl iodide, a neurotoxin. The pesticide induces cancer in lab animals and is linked to no less than lung, liver, kidney and neurological damage, fetal defects, and miscarriages.

Independent scientists throughout the country—including those working for the California’s own Environmental Protection Agency—agree on this chemical’s high levels of toxicity. They say the pesticide cannot be safely used.

But none of the science seemed to matter Mary-Ann Warmerdam, former head of California’s Department of Pesticide Regulation. The Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger-appointed director methyl iodide approved use of the chemical in late 2010. Thankfully, last March she left state employment.

Gov. Jerry Brown’s said he’d wait to sort out the methyl-iodide matter until Warmerdam’s replacement was on the ready line. And now he is. Brian Leahy, former assistant director at the California Department of Conservation, is the state’s new pesticide czar. Like environmental groups across the state, we have high hopes that this former organic farmer will make quick work of banning methyl iodide.

Once Brown signs off, as we believe he must, California’s farmworkers, coastal residents and berry-loving consumers will be rid of this hazardous pesticide once and for all.