FROM CRADLE TO GRAVE

1
Methyl Bromide

• FROM CRADLE TO GRAVE

Owen Taylor
Race, Poverty and the Environment, Professor
Raquel R. Pinderhughes, Urban Studies Program,
San Francisco State University, Spring 2003.
Public has permission to use the material herein,
but only if author, course, university and
professor are cited.
2
This presentation focuses on the highly
controversial pesticide, methyl bromide, which is
considered to be both the most effective and one
of the most destructive pesticides of its
kind.It takes you through the cradle to grave
lifecycle of methyl bromide, paying particular
attention to the social, environmental and public
health impacts of the processes associated with
methyl bromide.I start by providing an overview
of worldwide use of methyl bromide, and then an
overview of the history of methyl bromide
production. I then systematically analyze
bromine extraction and methyl bromide production,
transportation, consumption and waste.
Concluding the report, I will discuss phase-out
strategies and alternatives to methyl bromide.
3
Methyl Bromide Use Worldwide
Significance

• Methyl bromide is primarily used as a pesticide
  on crops worldwide.
• Soil (pre-planting) Fumigation (77)
• Quarantine and Commodity Fumigation (12)
• Structural Fumigation (5)
• Chemical Intermediaries (6) (World health
  organization 1994).
• Tomatoes and strawberries are the top users of
  methyl bromide worldwide.
• Tomatoes (23)
• Strawberries (13)
• Cucurbits (the cucumber and squash family) (7)
• Nursery Crops (6)
• Peppers (5)
• Tobacco (5)
• Flowers (5) (Schafer 1999).

4
Methyl Bromide Use In the U.S.
Significance
Reflects Worldwide Consumption
Source Gilfillan 1998
5
This is a very toxic material!
Significance

• Exposure to this chemical affects both target and
  non-target organisms, including beneficial
  insects, aquatic life, and humans. (EPA 2002)
• Methyl bromide is also a potent ozone destroyer,
  and is planned to be phased out worldwide by
  2015. (EPA 2002)

6
HISTORY OF METHYL BROMIDE PRODUCTION
Bromine is the primary raw material used in
production of methyl bromide. Where there is
highly concentrated bromine, there are bromide
manufacturing plants (EPA 2002).
All Images CHF 2000
7
Major Bromine Sources
Where bromine comes from

• Arkansas Brine Deposits
• Seaweed and plankton absorbed bromine from
  seawater 570 to 245 million years ago (Paleozoic
  Period)
• The ocean receded 208 to 146 million years ago
  (Jurassic Period) and the seaweed and plankton
  decomposed, releasing heavy concentrations of
  bromine in salt brines (Hill 2002).
• Prehistoric brine is trapped underground in many
  areas of the world, though most concentrated
  beneath Arkansas and Michigan (TIDCO 2003,
  Warren 2000).
• Bromine rich brine was first known as a
  bothersome by-product of oil drilling it was
  smelly and bitter and could curl the toes of
  boots and contaminate drinking water (CHF 2000).
• Arkansas salt brine deposits have about 5,000
  parts of bromine for every million parts of brine
• There are enough reserves for 50 more years of
  bromine extraction (TIDCO 2003, Warren 2000).

8
Major Bromine Sources
Where bromine comes from

• The Dead Sea
• A million years ago, an earthquake separated the
  Dead Sea from the ocean and made it into an
  inland lake.
• The Dead Sea has been evaporating ever since,
  providing higher and higher concentrations of
  bromine rich brine.
• The brine is simply scooped out of evaporation
  pits. (Warren 2000).
• No other known inland seas and salt lakes with
  high bromine content compare with the Dead Sea
  (TIDCO 2003).
• The Dead Sea has about 10,000 parts of bromine
  for every million parts of brine
• There are enough reserves for 1,000 more years of
  bromine extraction (Warren 2000).

Map Source http//www.ancientroute.com/
9
Herbert Henry Dow
How bromine-rich brine was discovered and
extracted

• In the mid-1880s, as a student in Michigan, Dow
  tested the properties of salt brine
• He discovered it contained bromine, profitable in
  both the medicine and photography industries
• Dow developed extraction processes to extract
  bromine from both underground sources (using
  electrolysis) and ocean sources (using air
  blowing methods)
• Dow Chemical Corporation perfected this latter
  method in 1934 (CHF 2000).

10
POISONOUS HISTORY OF BROMINE PRODUCTION

• In 1934 Dow Chemical and Ethyl Corporation joined
  to use Dows bromine to produce the toxic
  no-knock leaded gasoline (CHF 2000).
• In 1972, the U.S. banned leaded gasoline.
• Ethyl Corporation and Great Lakes Corporation
  globalized production and distribution
• Now only Octel Associates (a subsidiary of Great
  Lakes) continues to produce this product in the
  U.S.
• Ethyl has since spun off its methyl bromide
  production to Albemarle Corporation.
• Albemarle and Great Lakes are now among the three
  leading methyl bromide producers in the
  world(Karliner et al. 1997).

11
Current Bromine Extraction
Bringing Unliveable Chemicals Into Precious
Ecosystems
Bromide Plant for Sale
Source http//www.usedplants.com/html/bromine.htm
l
12
Extraction from Brine Deposits

• In 1969, Ethyl turned to drilling beneath salt
  marshes in Arkansas for its brine. (Karliner et
  al. 1997).
• The brine is oxidized with elemental chlorine to
  liberate the bromine.
• The bromine is condensed, distilled and dried.
• About half of the world production of bromine
  occurs in Arkansas from underground deposits
  (Kasilo 1990).

13
Extraction from Ocean and Inland Sea Sources

• Bromine is concentrated by vaporization and the
  addition of sulfur dioxide, resulting in hydrogen
  bromide.
• Water is added to produce a concentrated bromide
  solution.
• From here the process is nearly identical to the
  process used in brine deposits.
• No other known inland seas and salt lakes with
  high bromine content compare with the Dead Sea
  (TIDCO 2003).

14
Sources of Bromine are Desolate and Unsupportive
of Life

• Bromine-rich brine deposits are too deep, dark
  and saline for life.
• In brine pools deep in the Gulf of Mexico, only
  microbes, such as bacteria and archaea, which can
  convert methane and hydrogen sulfide into food
  survive the salty, dark environment (Siegel
  2001).

15
Sources of Bromine are Desolate and Unsupportive
of Life

• Similarly, only microorganisms have been found
  living in the extremely saline environment of the
  Dead Sea.
• There is little life dependent on these
  unfriendly environments (Berke 1997).
• Bromine plants are responsible for bringing these
  uninhabitable chemicals into precious ecosystems
  throughout the world.

16
Brine Spills

• In 1996, the Arkansas Dept. of Pollution and
  Ecology cited Albemarle Corporation for
  frightening amounts of corrosive salt brine
  released from its plant into local waterways
  (Karliner et al. 1997).
• Oil, brine, and bromine industries have polluted
  the Smackover Creek Watershed for many years.
  Now thousands of acres of land is devoid of
  vegetation because of the past discharges of
  brine water and liquid oil (Young 2001).

17
Brine Spills

• Numerous spills and breeches of brine have
  caused
• fish kills
• contamination of sediments
• loss of sensitive species
• habitat destruction
• contamination of ground water sources (Comer
  2001).

18
Methyl Bromide Production
Bromide manufacturing plant
Sourcehttp//www.zentek.it/bromochemicals.htm
19
Production Occurs on Site

• Bromine is stored and shipped in glass bottles
  with lead caps and lead-lined metal drums and
  tanks (World Health Organization 1999).
• Bromine products, however, are usually
  manufactured at the site of drilling.
• Other bromine products are used for
• Photography
• Pharmaceuticals

Water disinfection
Flame retardants
20
Methyl Bromide is Often Created as a By-Product
(EPA 2002).

• For example, when the popular flame retardant
  Tetrabomobisphenol is produced it requires the
  bromination of bisphenol A in the presence of a
  solvent.
• If methanol is used as the solvent, methyl
  bromide is produced as a co-product (Van Eshe
  1995).
• The methyl bromide manufacturing process is
  enclosed, so risk of worker exposure is low
  (World Health Organization 1994).

21
The Methyl Bromide Barons

• Great Lakes Chemical, Arkansas (31)
• Ethyl/Albemarle, Arkansas (12)
• Dead Sea Bromine Group, Israel (41)
• Elf Atochem, France (6)
• Five producers in Japan (10) (Lyday 1995)

Methyl bromide production is only a small
fraction of each of these major companies sales
portfolios each year, though these three
companies account for nearly all of the world
annual consumption of 71,500 tons (Schafer 1999).
22
Environmental Contamination
Albemarle Corporation

• In 1993, the EPA announced more than 544,000 in
  fines for nine alleged violations at an Albemarle
  plant.
• In 1994, the Arkansas Department of Pollution
  Control and Ecology (PCE) announced it would
  fine Albemarle Corp. 332,500 for 91 alleged air
  pollution and record-keeping violations.
• Several of these citations concerned excessive
  releases of methyl alcohol and methyl bromide.
• In 1994,Albemarle was also fined 79,000 for
  improper operation of an incinerator or
  industrial furnace (Karliner et. al. 2003).

23
Environmental Contamination
GREAT LAKES CHEMICAL CORPORATION

• This is the largest producer of methyl bromide in
  the U.S., creating more than 40 million pounds a
  year.
• Its bromine business has made the company the
  number one polluter in Arkansas.
• The company was fined 190,000 for water
  pollution in Arkansas in 1994.
• They were also fined 1.3 million for
  environmental violations in 1991 in Florida alone
  (Karliner et. al. 1997).

24
Risks to Community
Great Lakes Chemical Corporation

• Great Lakes moved in yards away from an
  Environmental Awareness Summer Camp.
• They are blamed for poisoning the kids, killing
  one man, and causing one child to develop croup
  and conjunctivitis.
• Great Lakes informed the Camp that it would no
  longer be safe to use their pond, and proceeded
  to pump out the contamination. (McKinnon 2003)
• The land and water have been reported to be
  contaminated.
• No apparent public health hazard has been found
  for nearby residences, however (Chapman et. al.
  2000).

Source McKinnon 2003
25
The Products
To name a few

• Brom-O-gas
• Dowfume
• Embafume
• Halon 1001
• Haltox
• Meth-o-gas
• Terabol
• Terr-o-gass 100
• (World Health Organization 1999).

Added sensory warning agents, such as tear gas,
are considered ineffective indicators of toxic
chemicals.
Methyl bromide is usually available as a
liquefied gas.
Products contain between 30-100 methyl bromide.
Occasionally other fumigants are added to serve
as inert dilutents (World Health Organization
1994).
26
Status Quo

• Not much marketing is needed for methyl bromide
• It is considered the most effective fumigant.
• There is no known single alternative available to
  perform all of its uses (EPA 2002).

no other fumigant can match it in terms of
yields or cost (Sadowski 2001).
27
What are the main advantages of Methyl Bromide
over other fumigants?

• According to the Dead Sea Bromine Group, the
  advantages are many
• Broad spectrum activity
• Quick and deep penetration into the soil
• Very short exposure time
• Quick dissipation from the soil after fumigation
• Penetration into undecomposed plant residues
• Increased growth response effect
• Good efficacy in a wide range of temperatures
• Efficacy for a few successive crops (DSBG 2003).

28
What are the soil-borne pests which are
attacked by methyl bromide?

• According to the Dead Sea Bromine Group, the
  following pests are controlled
• Plant parasitic nematodes including those in
  their galls and cysts and nematodes sheltering
  within undecomposed plant residues
• Soil-borne fungi the primary target of
  fumigation, including all life stages (spores,
  mycelium and resting structures) such as
  dumping-off, crown rot and wilt pathogens.
• Bacteria, many species
• Soil-borne viruses several species
• Weeds, both annual and perennial weeds
• Soil-borne insects
• Parasitic plants (DSBG 2003).

29
What other organisms are attacked by methyl
bromide?

• Non-target organisms that are attacked by
  methyl bromide include
• Beneficial insects
• Beneficial bacteria
• Aquatic Life
• Humans
• Any thing that comes in direct contact! (EPA
  2002).

30
Dangerous Properties
Colorless, Odorless and Extremely Toxic
One of the most dangerous pesticides since
DDT Pesticide Action Network of North
America
Among the most lethal of acutely toxic
pesticides -United States Environmental
Protection Agency (MBAN 1995).
31
If Exposed to Methyl Bromide, You Might
Experience

• Central nervous system failure
• Respiratory system failure
• Specific and sever deleterious action on the
  lungs, eyes, and skin
• Weakness
• Despondency
• Headache
• Visual disturbances
• Nausea
• Vomiting
• Numbness

• Defective muscular coordination
• Tremor
• Muscle spasms
• Lack of balance
• Extreme agitation
• Coma
• Convulsions
• Fetal defects in pregnant woman
• Goss permanent disabilities
• Death (EPA 2002).

32
Longevity of Effects

• Effects of exposure tend to last from a few weeks
  up to several months
• Some cases of sensory disturbances, muscular
  weakness, disturbances of gait, and blurred
  vision have persisted.
• The main causes of death are central nervous
  system depression with respiratory paralysis
  and/or circulatory failure, proceeded by
  convulsions and a coma (World Health Organization
  1994).

33
Transportation
34
Risk of Exposure

• Transporting methyl bromide necessitates
  complying with requirements regarding movement of
  hazardous materials (World Health Organization
  1994).
• These requirements do not guarantee safety.
• Many people have been killed, knocked out,
  hospitalized and evacuated by the leakage,
  contamination, or threat of contamination of
  methyl bromide following transportation accidents
  (National Chemical Safety Program 2002, Morbidity
  and Mortality Weekly Report 1990, White 1999,
  Sipress and White 1999).

35
Worldwide Consumption
Source Karliner et. al. 1997
36
Worldwide Soil Use
Source Schafer 1999
37
US Consumption
Source Karliner et. al. 1997
38
Developing World Consumption

• Consumption doubled between 1991 and 1997 (Pierce
  1999).
• Phase-out may increase developing countries
  consumption
• Production and consumption are to be phased out
  first in developed nations
• Manufacturers may be tempted to sell increasing
  quantities to developing countries.
• Developing countries dont have vast resources to
  invest in researching alternatives (Lowery 1997).
• This would both make some final profits and
  alleviate the cost of disposing excess product in
  hazardous waste dumps (Cousteau 1996).

39
Catch-22

• Industrial nations often require the use of
  methyl bromide for imports from developing
  countries
• Take Kenya, for example
• 13 of exports are cut flowers for European
  countries like the Netherlands
• 5 of its foreign exchange must be spent on
  methyl bromide for its crops (Cousteau 1996).
• Only commercial farmers and government operated
  grain storage facilities are allowed to use
  methyl bromide
• Methyl bromide is not used for locally consumed
  crops (Lowrey 1997).

40
Methyl Bromide Use Worldwide

• Methyl bromide is primarily used as a pesticide
  on crops worldwide.
• Soil (pre-planting) Fumigation (77)
• Quarantine and Commodity Fumigation (12)
• Structural Fumigation (5)
• Chemical Intermediaries (6) (World Health
  Organization 1994)
• Tomatoes and strawberries are the top users of
  methyl bromide worldwide.
• Tomatoes (23)
• Strawberries (13)
• Cucurbits (the cucumber and squash family) (7)
• Nursery Crops (6)
• Peppers (5)
• Tobacco (5)
• Flowers (5) (Schafer 1999)

Source Karliner et. al. 1997
41
Fumigation Practices

• Fumigation tractors inject methyl bromide into
  the ground, usually 12 to 24 inches.
• Farm workers follow immediately behind to help
  spread plastic tarps over the treated soil (EPA
  2002, MBAN 1995).
• The plastic slows the movement of methyl bromide
  into the atmosphere.
• Despite the plastic, half the gas escapes
  immediately (Sadowski 2001).
• This poses an extreme risk for the workers laying
  tarps.

Top www.smithsonianmag.si.edu/1996
Bottom Karliner et. al. 1997
42
Health Impacts on Workers

• Farm workers have the highest rate of chemically
  related illnesses of any occupational group
  (Gilfillan 1998).
• Methyl bromide has been classified as one of the
  most dangerous of the acutely toxic chemicals.
• Those laying tarps and driving tractors are at
  highest risk of exposure
• Methyl bromide can permeate most materialsthere
  is no protective clothing available.
• In California, methyl bromide is the pesticide
  that has caused the most occupationally related
  deaths (MBAN 1995).

Top Gilfillan 1998
Bottom ?
43
Recorded Impacts

• 19 deaths were recorded due to methyl bromide
  poisoning between 1982 and 1993 in California.
• Also in California, 148 systemic illnesses, 52
  eye injuries, and 60 cases of skin damage caused
  by methyl bromide were reported by state agencies
  between 1982 and 1990 (MBAN 1995).
• These documented figures are estimated to be well
  below the real figures, as many farm workers have
  valid fears of deportation or losing their jobs
  (Karliner et. al. 1997).

44
Who Grows Our Food?

• A large number of farm workers in the United
  States are immigrants and/or migrant farm workers
  and are primarily Latinos and other poor people
  of color.
• Farm workers are paid between 30 and 100 a day,
  making between 8,000 and 10,000 a year
• Farm Workers often have no better option than to
  live next to the fields in poverty conditions.
• This poses an extreme risk for not only the farm
  workers, but also their families (Gilfillan 1998,
  Karliner 1997).

Source Corpwatch.org
Source Gilfilan 1997
45
Community Impacts

• Almost half of all reported illness caused by
  methyl bromide have occurred as a result of
  drifting gasses from agricultural fields and
  fumigated structures (Karliner 1997).
• In 1987, 140 people were evacuated from a labor
  camp in California after children tore holes in
  tarps covering methyl bromide fumigated soil and
  71 people became ill
• In 1992, methyl bromide drifting from a
  strawberry field in Oxnard, California made six
  people ill (MBAN 1995).
• There are hundreds of elementary schools located
  very near or adjacent to areas that are heavily
  fumigated with methyl bromide (Karliner 1997)

Both Photos Karliner et. al. 1997
46
Environmental Injustice

• Children of color are in the greatest danger.
• Seventeen of the twenty elementary schools most
  severely exposed to methyl bromide in California,
  have student populations comprised of upwards of
  80 percent children of color.
• Children of color comprise less than 60 percent
  of the student body statewide.
• All seventeen of these elementary schools report
  "hispanic" student populations that range from 65
  to 96 percent, with most resting above 75
  percent.
• Latinos comprise less than 40 percent of all
  students statewide (Karliner 1997).

Karliner et. al. 1997
47
Impacts of Structural and Commodity Fumigation

• Methyl bromide kills one person a year in Los
  Angeles County (Bernstein 1997).
• Fatal gases often travel between structures, such
  as homes, offices and grain silos, through walls
  or empty pipes (Bernstein 1997, Rajzer 1997,
  JICOSH 2002, Schommer 2002).
• Victims often enter fumigated structures when
  insufficiently warned by exterminators of the
  danger in side (Beyond Pesticides 2001, JICOSH
  2002)

Source www.dsbg.com
A house is sealed after fumigation. Source
Smithsonian.
48
Community Victory in Barrio Logan

• The Port District of San Diego used methyl
  bromide to fumigate imported goods for five
  years.
• For five years the adjacent Barrio Logan
  community fought back.
• The chemical was drifting into their
  neighborhoods and threatening their safety.
• The community was victorious, and the Port
  stopped fumigating.
• The Port's new policy is to not seek out or
  accept commodities which require fumigation and
  fumigation will only be used in cases of
  unforeseen infestations (Environmental Health
  Coalition 1997).

Protesting the use of methyl bromide
Tying feathers and blue ribbons to the fence of
the port to symbolize health
Source EHC 1997
49
Worldwide Risk

• It was difficult to find examples of worker and
  community health effects of methyl bromide
  outside of the United States, and more
  specifically outside of California.
• It may be safe to say, however, that because
  regulations are less in "Third World" markets,
  human health is at a greater risk in these areas
  (Karliner et al. 1997).
• For example, the major methyl bromide producer in
  China, Lianyungang Dead Sea Bromine Compounds
  Corporation Ltd., reports on their web site that
  methyl bromide has a "small danger for workers"
  (2003).
• Major corporations in more industrialized
  countries publicly recognize the great danger for
  the worker, and have developed educational
  programs for applicators.

50
Potent Ozone Depleter

• In the early 1990's scientists discovered that
  methyl bromide destroys the ozone layer.
• Reactions involving bromine are believed to be
  responsible for 20-25 of the ozone-hole over
  Antarctica (Butler 1995).
• Methyl bromide makes up the majority (54) of
  these bromide compounds that reach the
  stratosphere (Chao-min et al 2000).
• In 1992, scientists estimated that methyl bromide
  emissions from pesticide use are responsible for
  5-10 of ozone depletion, and that by 2000 this
  would increase to 15 (MBAN 1995).

Source Gilfillan 1998
51
Potent Ozone Depleter

• The bromine from methyl bromide is 50-60 times
  more destructive than the already banned
  chlorine-containing CFCs (Chao-min et al 2000,
  Schafer 1999, American Geophysical Union 1995).
• NASA reports that methyl bromide is 10-100 times
  more destructive than CFCs, due to its quicker
  reaction with UV light (Sparling 2002).
• The lifetime of methyl bromide in the atmosphere
  is only two years, so a great reduction in
  emissions would show relatively immediate results
  (MBAN 1995, American Geophysical Union 1995).

52
Chemistry of Ozone Depletion

• 98 of UV light is intercepted and absorbed in
  the formation and destruction of ozone (O3).
• UV rays split O2 into two oxygen atoms, which can
  each join other O2 molecules to form ozone.
• UV rays also split ozone molecules to form an O2
  molecule and an oxygen atom.
• In these reactions, UV light is absorbed
  (Sparling 2002).
• Bromine, in the reactive forms of Br and BrO,
  reaches the stratosphere and reacts with HO, ClO,
  or NO to form molecules, which then react with
  oxygen atoms from ozone.
• This prevents the oxygen from forming more ozone
  molecules (American Geophysical Union 1995).

53
Sources of airborne methyl bromide

• When soil is fumigated, as much as 95 of the gas
  can leach out of the soil and eventually reach
  the atmosphere (EPA 2002, Sadowski 2001).
• When used to fumigate commodities, about 90
  eventually reaches the atmosphere (EPA 2002).
• A large amount of methyl bromide emissions also
  come from natural sources such as oceans and
  biomass burning, though the natural balance has
  been disrupted (Butler 1995).
• The burning of leaded gasoline is another
  important source of methyl bromide emissions.
• As we know, Ethyl/Albemarle played a key role in
  developing and manufacturing this product and
  now, Octel, formally belonging to Ethyl and now
  to Great Lakes, is the only remaining private
  sector corporation producing "no-knock"
  tetraethyl lead (Karliner 1997).

54
Health Effects of Ozone Depletion

• More UV-B rays are passing through the "holes" in
  the protective layer of ozone.
• Exposure to excess UV-B radiation can lead to
  skin cancer, eye cataracts and suppression of the
  immune system (MBAN 1995).
• An increase in UVB radiation will also damage
  crops and aquatic ecosystems (Karliner et al.
  1997).

55
Waste Disposal

• Information is hard to come across on the
  disposal practices concerning methyl bromide and
  any effects it may have on workers, communities
  and the environment.
• The information that is available concerns
  guidelines and rules about how to dispose of the
  hazardous wastes related to the substance.

Source mtpesticides.org
Source www.epa.gov
56
Waste Disposal

• There are certain precautions for
• Labeling methyl bromide products (EPA 2002)
• For disposing drums, cans or bottles
• In landfills
• By recycling them
• By reusing them (EPA 2002, Nesheim 2000)
• For disposing excess product
• Through incineration
• By returning to company
• By releasing small amounts into the atmosphere
  (World Health Organization 1994)

• As we have been learning in class, landfills and
  hazardous waste facilities are extremely
  detrimental to the environment and communities
  nearby, which are disproportionately communities
  of color. The waste of methyl bromide perpetuates
  this environmental injustice.

57
Methyl Bromide Phase-Out

• Initiated by the Montreal Protocol Treaty and the
  U.S. Clean Air Act to eliminate worldwide
  production and consumption of ozone depleting
  substances, including methyl bromide.
• 160 countries have signed the treaty since it
  began in the late 1980s.
• In 1992, the Parties to the Montreal Protocol
  listed methyl bromide as an ozone depleting
  substance and agreed to freeze production in 1995
  at 1991 levels.
• In 1995, the Parties agreed to add global methyl
  bromide controls to the treaty, phasing out
  consumption in industrial nations by 2010, and
  freezing consumption in developing nations in
  2002 at the average of the 1995-1998 levels.
• In 1997 global controls on consumption were sped
  up. As it stands, industrial nations will have
  reached 100 phase out by 2005 and non-industrial
  countries will reach 100 phase out by 2015.
• Exempt from these controls are "critical uses",
  which were more clearly defined in 2001 meetings
  "Under this exemption, methyl bromideusers
  without technically or economically feasible
  alternatives may be permitted to obtain methyl
  bromide after the phase out date" (EPA 2002).

58
Phasing-Out Early

• Soil use hasn't been permitted in the Netherlands
  since 1992
• As of 1999, legislation was in development
  concerning accelerated reduction for
• Barbados
• Canada
• Costa Rica
• Croatia
• El Salvador
• European Union
• Fiji
• Indonesia
• New Zealand
• Venezuela (Schafer 1999).

• Denmark and Sweden phased out by 1998, Finland by
  1999, Austria by 2000.
• Methyl bromide registration was cancelled or use
  has been prohibited in
• Angola
• Bahrain
• Belize
• Bolivia
• Colombia
• Iceland
• Mozambique
• Switzerland.

59
Chinas Phase-Out Behind Schedule

• China tripled its use from 1995 to 1997.
• Has been cited as the "main culprit in the
  explosive growth in the use of the fumigant
  methyl bromide".
• China hasn't yet signed the 1992 amendment to the
  Montreal Protocol.
• The United Nations Environmental Program depends
  on China's approval of this amendment for further
  assistance in promoting ozone-friendly use in
  industry (Pearce 1999).

60
Chinas Phase-Out Behind Schedule

• In 1995, the largest producer of methyl bromide
  in China (Lianyungang Marine No. 1 Chemical
  Plant) and the largest producer of bromine and
  bromine compounds in the world (Dead Sea Bromine
  Group of Israel) formed the Lianyungang Dead Sea
  Bromine Compounds Corporation Ltd. through a
  joint venture.

• The main products of the company are methyl
  bromide 100 and methyl bromide 98, which it
  sells domestically and exports to more than 30
  countries and regions (LDSBCCL 2003).
• The capacity of this plant in 1999, was 3000 tons
  per year, nearly 10 of global production (Pearce
  1999).

61
Industry-Led Resistance

• The industry has a hold on legislative powers
• Major campaign financing from corporations tied
  strongly to methyl bromide.
• Clinton had an early relationship with the
  Arkansas based methyl bromide corporations.
• The methyl bromide uses faux grassroots lobbying
  techniques to industry attempts to gain
  political support, which has been termed
  "Astroturf lobbying.
• Support has been garnered through former pest
  control exterminator House majority whip Tom
  Delay (Karliner et al 1997).
• The methyl bromide industry falsely claims that
  there are no proven effective or affordable
  alternatives.
• The industry applies pressure on developing
  countries, especially through the industry's
  international association, the Methyl Bromide
  Global Coalition (MBGC).
• The MBGC has had an active influence on the
  debate over international controls by regularly
  attending meetings, encouraging decision makers
  to delay and weaken the controls, and funding and
  coordinating seminars for government officials
  and farmers (Schafer 1997).

62
Industry-Led Resistance in California, the
nation's leading consumer of methyl bromide

• In 1995 Governor Pete Wilson received more than
  500,000 dollars from corporations with strong
  vested interests in perpetuating the use of
  methyl bromide.
• Among these were

TriCal
Sun-Diamond Growers
Ernest Julio Gallo Winery
The California nursery industry
The Methyl Bromide Coordinating Committee (of
which bromide baron TriCal Inc. is a member)
At least five out of eight major strawberry
corporations.
The Western Growers Association (TriCal CEO Dan
Storkan sits on the Board)
63
Sun-Diamond Bribery

• Sun-Diamond Growers Cooperative has actually
  funded Wilson since he was mayor of San Diego, to
  become a U.S. Senator and the Governor of
  California.
• The Senior Vice President said "Pete has had a
  personal relationship with the leadership of
  Sun-Diamond for over a decadeWe want to see him
  remain at the helm of the ship" (Karliner et al.
  1997).
• Sun-Diamond also formed an alliance with the USDA
  Secretary of Agriculture, Mike Espy by making
  illegal gifts during his term as secretary.
• He received more than 9,000 as the USDA was
  considering export grants and the methyl bromide
  phase out.
• He was subsequently found guilty and resigned.
• A joint study with the USDA and the Methyl
  Bromide Working Group (comprised of TriCal Inc.,
  Great Lakes Chemical Co, Albemarle and Amerbrom)
  subsequently and unsurprisingly attacked and
  contradicted United Nations and EPA findings
  (Karliner et al. 1997).

64
Alternatives to Methyl Bromide

• In 1998, the Methyl Bromide Technical Options
  Committee, reported that there were technically
  feasible alternatives, either currently available
  or at an advanced stage of development for at
  least 95 percent of methyl bromide use (PANNA
  2003, Cousteau 1996).
• This is a United Nations committee of 68
  scientists, manufacturers, users, government
  representatives, and non-governmental
  organizations, representing 33 countries
  (Karliner et al. 1997, PANNA 2003).
• There is no single alternative to the many uses
  of methyl bromide, though there are many
  alternatives for most of the separate uses, which
  can be used in combination (EPA 2002).

65
Non-Chemical Alternatives for Soil

• Environmental, and worker friendly options for
  soil include

crop rotation
cover crops
plant extracts
organic amendments
biological control agents
breeding plants for disease resistant stocks
sterilizing with steam or solar heating
(EPA 2002, Sadowski 2001, Schafer 1999)
66
Examples of Organic Alternatives

• Studies in Jordan and elsewhere have shown that
  covering a crop with plastic, irrigating from
  beneath and allowing the sun to boil the water
  will effectively sterilize the soil.
• In Morocco, a study has shown that grafting a
  root stock onto tomatoes that poisons nematodes
  is cheaper and as effective as methyl bromide
  fumigation (Pearce 1999).
• In Zimbabwe and the Philippines, solarization and
  soil amendments have been proven affective for
  strawberry production (Schafer 1999).

67
Non-Chemical Alternatives for Treating
Commodities

• Heat treatment
• Irradiation
• Sanitation and preventative practices
• Biological controls
• Controlled atmospheres using nitrogen and carbon
  dioxide, heat and cold (EPA 2002, Schafer 1999).
  
• Controlled atmospheres are also effective with
  treatment of infested structures (EPA 2002).

68
Ralston Purina has developed and incorporated
heat as their standard method of pest control,
replacing the use of methyl bromide altogether.
They use "multiple steam-driven, mobile carts
with tubular-steel frames, radiators and fans" to
bake the bugs out of the infested areas of the
factory.
Many other companies in North America have
followed in their tracks including Pillsbury,
Quaker Oats, General Mills and Lauhoff.
This method is very effective, safe for the
workers and cheaper in the long run (Forest 1999).
Image source www.Purina.com
Free advertising for Ralston Purina
69
Alternatives in Developing Countries

• It is more difficult for developing countries to
  promote alternatives for many reasons.
• First of all, the majority of methyl bromide use
  in developing countries is for high value cash
  crops for export, such as tobacco, cut flowers,
  strawberries and grains. This often means that
  governments and farmers concerned with potential
  high risks of economic failure are reluctant to
  adopt new approaches.
• Developing countries' infrastructure is often not
  as well equipped with research, training,
  information dissemination and enforcement of
  regulations as industrialized nations.
• As I mentioned a few slides back, another
  important factor inhibiting developing countries
  from implementing alternatives is pressure from
  the methyl bromide industry, especially from the
  industry's international association, the Methyl
  Bromide Global Coalition (MBGC). The MBGC has
  had an active influence on the debate over
  international controls by regularly attending
  meetings, encouraging decision makers to delay
  and weaken the controls, and funding and
  coordinating seminars for government officials
  and farmers (Schafer 1997).

70
The Multilateral Fund

• Created in 1990 to
• Address the disadvantages developing countries
  face when attempting to promote alternatives.
• Support efforts in developing countries to
  develop alternatives to methyl bromide use.
• The fund is financed by contributions from
  industrial countries
• The projects are implemented by the United
  Nations Environment Program, the United Nations
  Development Program, the United Nations
  Industrial Development Organization, and the
  World Bank.
• By 1999, 78 demonstration projects, and "several
  larger-scale investment projects promoting
  national information dissemination and training"
  had been approved by the Fund.
• Programs involving education about integrated
  pest management and other knowledge-intensive
  approaches have proven to be the most effective
  alternatives to methyl bromide (Schafer 1999).

71
The Abrupt and Conclusionless

• Conclusion

Ive run out of timeplease see my papers
conclusion for a more explicit and heart-driven
relation to environmental injustice.
72
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