California is about to sign off on an insane plan that would allow farmers to use one of the world's most dangerous chemicals as a pesticide on strawberry plants.

It's called methyl iodide, and even some chemists won't go near it. It's such a powerful and reliable carcinogen that researchers use it to induce cancer in lab animals.

But go ahead, take a bite. California says it's OK -- and never mind the five Nobel-winning chemists and dozens of other experts who've written a letter begging the EPA to keep this poison out of strawberry fields, forever.

Who do you believe -- a roomful of Nobel winners and their trusted colleagues, or a bunch of politically motivated bureaucrats?

This toxic monster has been linked to thyroid tumors, nerve damage, and brain and lung problems. It's also been known to cause miscarriages in lab animals -- when it's not being used to give them cancer.

No wonder it's such a great pesticide -- it can destroy just about anything. The pests don't stand a chance... and neither do you if you get too close to this poison.

Experts say a good breeze can even send methyl iodide airborne... and if you think U.S. groundwater is bad now, wait until this junk starts seeping in.

Think I'm exaggerating? I'm the last person to give in to pesticide fears -- because in many cases, those fears have been either exaggerated or completely unfounded.

Just look at DDT, an innocent victim of left-wing fearmongering. If it hadn't been banned due to some trumped-up nonsense over birdlife, we wouldn't be having these debates over newer and more powerful chemicals today... because we wouldn't need them!

But instead, the Frankenstein labs of the chemical industry have been working overtime, churning out new and more frightening creations -- and methyl iodide is their crowning achievement.

From poisoned fruit to contaminated water where you'd least expect it.

By William Campbell Douglass II, M.D.