Symptoms include fumigation exposure also leads to pain in the chest, nausea, dizziness, numbness, and weakness of extremities. To date, at least twenty people have died as a direct result of methyl bromide exposure. A Threat to the Ozone Layer Methyl bromide poses a risk for farmworkers, their families, and communities close to tomato fields. It also threatens the planet by reacting with and destroying Earth's protective ozone layer. The threat to the ozone layer is so great that the federal Clean Air Act requires methyl bromide's complete phaseout by 2005.
Ozone depletion leads to increasing levels of ultra-violet light at the Earth's surface.
A compromised ozone layer results in numerous adverse health effects including skin cancer, premature aging, cataracts and compromised immune systems. The Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services does not require methyl bromide applicators to notify schools and communities adjacent to tomato fields when they plan to fumigate their fields. Farmers often place the notices of fumigation where they please and make no attempt to tell people living, working, and learning nearby. This lack of public notification has led to the inhalation of methyl bromide gas that has drifted into nearby communities and reports of Floridians becoming ill. Tellingly emergency response people are also not notified of imminent methyl bromide fumigation.