Pesticide databaseFumigants and soil disinfectantsChecked 2026-10-01

Methyl bromide 臭化メチル

Fumigants for warehouses and import quarantineRegistered in JapanActive ingredient: deleterious substanceWHO FMNot approved in the EU

Fumigants for warehouses and import quarantine: Control pests in stored grain and imported farm products.

In Japan

Registration: Registered as a pesticide (first registered September 18, 1950). 4 formulated products contain it.
Main registered crops: rice, barley, wheat and other small grains, minor grains, legumes, etc., fruits, vegetables, seeds and seedlings, etc., wood, bamboo and similar, cut flowers and others (7 crop names in the registered uses)
Toxicity class: Active ingredient: Deleterious substance
Classes of the 4 formulated products (diluted products sold): deleterious substance 4
Classes under Japan's Poisonous and Deleterious Substances Control Act.
ADI (acceptable daily intake): No risk assessment report by the Food Safety Commission of Japan was found

ADI: the amount considered to have no effect on health even if eaten every day for a lifetime. ARfD: the amount considered to have no effect on health when eaten at one time (within 24 hours). Both are set by the Food Safety Commission of Japan, mainly from animal studies.

In Japan's national residue testing (fiscal 2024)

Produce	Detected / tested	Detection rate	Over the limit
Domestic	1 / 18	5.6%	0
ImportedNo. 4 by detection rate	16 / 128	12.5%	0

Found in domestic foods: rice (brown rice) (max. 2.0 ppm)

Found in imported foods: strawberry, other grains, Welsh onion (including leek), apple, kiwifruit, grapefruit, banana, rye, lemon (max. 26 ppm)

Tests are counted as pesticide × sample. Any detection counts as “detected” — it does not mean the limit was exceeded. For pesticides outside the top 20, figures are summed from the food-by-food tables of the full report.

Evaluations abroad

WHO acute toxicity class: FM (Fumigant (not classified))
Based on the toxicity of the undiluted active ingredient given once, mainly to rats by mouth (LD50 = the dose that kills half; the smaller, the stronger the acute toxicity). It is not an assessment of the safety of residues in food.
EU: Not approved in the EU
EU ADI: 0.4 mg/kg bw/day; ARfD: 0.4 mg/kg bw
IARC (carcinogenicity): No matching entry in the IARC list (not evaluated or out of scope, including Group 3)

Good to know

Its use is restricted under the Montreal Protocol as an ozone-depleting substance. Fumigation for quarantine and pre-shipment treatment (plant protection) is still used as an exception.
In national inspections it is measured as “bromine,” and it is one of the substances frequently detected in imported produce (MHLW, fiscal 2024: 16 of 128 samples).

Related explainers

Sources

Last checked 2026-10-01. Registrations and evaluations change over time. This page is a translation of our Japanese page; if they differ, the Japanese page is the reference.

Pesticides registered in Japan are approved by the government with set crops, amounts, numbers of applications and days before harvest. This page lists facts stated in laws and in evaluations by public bodies; it does not judge whether anything is good or bad.

Other Fumigants for warehouses and import quarantine

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