Nomination Summary for Methyl iodide (iodomethane) (N20610)
Nominated Substances: Methyl iodide
Nomination Date: 03/13/2006
Nominator: Private Individual
Rationale: EPA is proposing to register iodomethane as replacement for methyl bromide (MB), as a pre-plant soil fumigant for peppers, strawberries & tomatoes. The National Resources Defense Council believes that the safety of Iodomethane cannot be fully evaluated because of gaps in the existing database. Iodomethane (Methyl Iodide) is an alkylating agent, a mutagen. The EPA evaluation of cancer risks for Methyl Iodide (MI) relied on an unpublished 24 month inhalation chronic toxicity/carcinogenicity study in rats, completed in 2005, in which over half the animals in the control and treatment groups died before the termination of the study. The IARC reviewed both MI and MB in 1986 and again in 1999, both times finding inadequate data to make a determination of cancer risk in humans
NTP Principles: not specified