Methyl bromide book reviews

US methyl bromide reports
Out of the frying pan, avoiding the fire provides an analysis of pesticide use in California since the early 1970s. Hazardous chemicals have been consistently replaced with other sets of hazardous chemicals over a period of three decades, according to the groups Ozone Action and the Sustainable Cotton Project who produced the report. The use of methyl bromide increased in California as a replacement to persistent organochlorines such as DDT. It is feared that a plethora of chemicals used as possible alternatives to methyl bromide would take us 'from the frying pan into the fire'.
    Many non-chemical alternatives are very effective and others show great promise, although there is no single 'magic bullet' available to replace all uses.

Recommendations include:

• Methyl bromide use and production in the US should be halted by 1997.

• The use and production of methyl bromide should be banned world-wide from 2001.

• Taxes on current methyl bromide use should be used to research develop and implement cost-efficient and safe alternatives.

Out of the Frying Pan Avoiding the Fire: An analysis of methyl bromide use in California and the alternatives, Will Allen, Jo Ann Baumgartner, Kalee Kreider and Susan Pollack, Ozone Action Inc., 1621 Connecticut Ave NW, Washington DC 20009, US,  Tel +1 202 265 6738, Fax +1 202 3324865.

PAN alternatives
Alternatives to methyl bromide, presents extensive evidence of alternatives to methyl bromide from the Montreal Protocol's Methyl Bromide Technical Options Committee 1995 Assessment. The existance of alternatives is critical since in 1994, United Nations scientists identified elimination of human sources of methyl bromide as the most significant remaining step governments can take to reduce future ozone loss.

Alternatives to methyl bromide: Experts from the UN Methyl Bromide Technical Options Committee 1955 Assessment, PAN North America, 116 New Montgomery St. No. 810, San Francisco, CA 94105, US, Tel +1 415 541 9140, Fax +1 415 541 9253. Also available from the Pesticides Trust [now PAN UK].

UNEP action programme
UNEP's OzonAction Programme is compiling a database on companies supplying alternatives to methyl bromide, as a service to users looking for alternatives. They would like to receive details of companies supplying any relevant products, such as biological controls for soil pests or steam treatment facilities, or experts providing professional advice on replacement methods of pest control.

Send information to: OzonAction Programme, UNEP IE, 39-43 Quai Andre Citroen, 75739 Paris Cedex 15, France. Tel +331 44 37 14 50, Fax +331 44 37 14 74.

[This article first appeared in Pesticides News No. 28, June 1995, page 4]