SACRAMENTO – Independent scientists who served on a panel selected by state regulators to analyze the health risks of a proposed new agricultural fumigant told lawmakers Thursday they are dumbfounded that the Department of Pesticide Regulation now seeks to authorize its use in California.

“It’s simply not the case that one should move ahead on a chemical that’s so toxic that there’s evidence of its causing death and disease,” said John Froines, a professor of environmental health sciences at UCLA who chaired an external scientific review panel that studied the risks of methyl iodide. “This is, without question, one of the most toxic chemicals on earth.”

In laboratory animals, exposure to the chemical has been shown to cause cancer, neurological damage and birth defects.

Froines and four other members of the panel testified before the Senate Food and Agriculture Committee, which is looking into the Department of Pesticide Regulation’s proposed decision to register methyl iodide for agricultural use.

The public comment period on the proposed decision ends June 29, and DPR Director Mary-Ann Warmerdam testified it’s likely that final approval will be granted by late fall. A final decision by the department is not subject to appeal.