CHAPTER 84 – Methyl Bromide

This chapter describes many of the published studies and elaborates the results from a number of contemporaneous methyl bromide toxicity studies by the oral and inhalation routes that were conducted to support the pesticide registration and other regulatory needs of the US Environmental Protection Agency, as well as State and international regulatory bodies. The potential routes of human exposure to methyl bromide are oral (through consumption of fumigated food products), dermal (skin contact), or inhalation (exposure to methyl bromide gas). Extensive studies have shown that residues of methyl bromide found in crops grown on fumigated soils are virtually nondetectable. In addition, methyl bromide concentrations in commodities treated post-harvest decrease rapidly after required aeration and are nondetectable after relatively short periods of time. In a separate study, methyl bromide was evaluated for its ability to induce single strand breaks in rat testicular DNA using alkaline elution techniques. In this study, groups of 10 male Fischer 344 rats were exposed to methyl bromide vapor concentrations of 0, 75, 150, or 250 ppm for six hours per day over five consecutive days. The negative control group was exposed to room air only.