Keep Methyl Iodide Out of California!

Action starts: December 8, 2009
Action ends: December 14, 2009

State authorities will likely decide this month if they will allow the use of methyl iodide – a highly carcinogenic and water contaminating chemical – as a pesticide in California. We have to act now to ensure that methyl iodide is never used in California’s fields.

Methyl iodide is so dangerous that it is used to create cancer in laboratories and over 50 scientists across the country – 5 of them Nobel Laureates – sent a letter to the EPA expressing astonishment that the agency was “working to legalize broadcast releases of one of the more toxic chemicals used in manufacturing into the environment.”

Exposure to methyl iodide is linked to severe health concerns, including miscarriages and cancer. Scientists are concerned that it will contaminate groundwater. State agencies estimate that workers could be exposed to 3000 times the “acceptable” dose.

Methyl Iodide would be one of the most toxic pesticides in use in California, would seriously threaten the health of farmworkers and rural communities, and could contaminate California’s groundwater.

The agrochemical industry is pushing hard to use methyl iodide. Make sure your voice is heard: Demand that this highly toxic chemical not be approved as a pesticide in California!

Take Action Now!

1. Call California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger TODAY and tell him not to register methyl iodide. Call his office at 916-445-2841 and say “I’m [name] from [city, state] and I’m calling to urge the Governor to not register the highly toxic, cancer-causing chemical methyl iodide as a pesticide in California. Thank you.” One call right now will make a difference!
2. Sign onto the letter to Governor Schwarzenegger and DPR Director Warmerdam, highlighting the toxic health risks associate with methyl iodide.