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 TIFTON, Ga. (AP) - Since the 1940s, methyl bromide has served farmers well as a stunningly lethal fumigant, killing off pests such as fungi, weeds, insects and rodents. But amid requirements that farmers stop using it, University of Georgia students are joining an international effort to find an earth-friendly alternative.
Alex Cisnos, a plant pathologist, and other researchers at the university's Coastal Plain Experiment Station in south Georgia have been testing an alternative fumigant, metam-sodium, in a one-quarter acre test plot of vegetables, including tomatoes and squash.
The move to phase out the use of methyl bromide is a result of the United Nations' 1992 Montreal Protocol, which identified the pesticide as one of many chemicals that damages the stratosphere's layer of ozone. Humans would be at greater risk of skin cancer and other health problems if the ozone layer continues to be damaged.
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