Methyl iodide is a highly toxic fumigant. So toxic, that toxicologist John Froines PhD, has coined it the "most toxic chemical on earth". This stuff was being used in most of California's strawberry farms as a soil sterilizer before planting. California produces 90% of the United States strawberries.
Arysta, a huge chemical corporation, began making methyl iodide to replace methyl bromide, another chemical that was phased out in the early 2000's because of it's ability to deplete the ozone rapidly. (not to mention it is highly toxic to the farmers who handled it when treating the soil to sterlize it with this chemical)
Back to methyl iodide. Although this does not effect the atomosphere, the way methyl bromide did, many notable scientists (54 of them) came forward to express their disgust, urging California strawberry farmers to stop using it. They stated using this on strawberry fields would "guarantee substantial releases to air, surface waters, and groundwater, and will result in exposures for many people." The group of scientists also stressed that methyl iodide is an "extraordinarily well-known" cancer hazard, because of its ability to "modify the chemist's own DNA, as well as the target molecule in the flask, leading to mutations that are potentially very harmful."
Arysta, recently pulled methyl iodide off the United States markets.