<p>Is cheap pretty fruit worth getting sick over?</p>
<p>
Other nations watch as the United States keeps permitting wide use of methyl bromide for tomatoes, strawberries, peppers, Christmas trees and other crops, even though the U.S. signed an international treaty banning all but the most critical uses by 2005…</p>
<p>Odorless and colorless, methyl bromide is a gas that usually is injected by tractor into soil before planting, then covered with plastic sheeting to slow its release into the air. It wipes out plant parasites, disease and weeds. It results in a spectacular yield, reduced weeding costs and a longer growing season.</p>
<p>Workers who inhale enough of the chemical can suffer convulsions, coma and neuromuscular and cognitive problems. In rare cases, they can die.</p>
<p>Less is known about the long-term effects of low levels of contact, said Dr. Robert Harrison, an occupational and environmental health physician at the University of California, San Francisco.</p>
<p>The U.S. signed the Montreal Protocol treaty, committing to phase out methyl bromide by 2005 as part of the effort to protect the earth’s ozone layer…</p>
<p>A provision allows for exemptions to prevent “market disruption.” The U.S. has used it to persuade treaty signers to allow U.S. farmers to continue using the chemical.</p>
<p>That exemption process leaves the U.S. 37 percent shy of the phaseout required by 2005, with at least 10,450 tons of methyl bromide exempted this year. While that compares with about 28,080 tons used in 1991, this year’s total is higher than it was two years ago.
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<p><a href=“http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1110AP_Pesticide_Politics.html[/url] ”>http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1110AP_Pesticide_Politics.html</a></p> ;
weenie
November 28, 2005, 9:11am
2
<p>I read that article in my paper this morning and it was disgusting. How about that massive field all covered in plastic? All I could think about was all those bright red strawberries in the grocery store day in and day out. I think I’ll skip them and keep trying to shop at the public market.</p>