Controversial Pesticide Worries Scientists

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http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=127910253&f=1002&sc=igg2

by Amy Standen

Odds are most supermarket strawberries come from California — that's where 90 percent of the berries are produced. And if the strawberries are not organic, they were likely grown in fumigated soil, which is creating a stir between scientists and regulators in California. The two groups recently faced off over the expected approval of a potentially dangerous pesticide.

Currently, farmers use a fumigant called methyl bromide. But it is being phased out internationally because it damages the ozone layer. And the leading alternative — methyl iodide — has its own set of problems.