[5] It is also produced in vast quantities estimated to be greater than 214,000 tons annually by algae and kelp in the world's temperate oceans, and in lesser amounts on land by terrestrial fungi and bacteria.

Iodides are generally expensive relative to the more common chlorides and bromides, though iodomethane is reasonably affordable; on a commercial scale, the more toxic dimethyl sulfate is preferred, since it is cheap and has a higher boiling point.

Iodide is a "soft" anion which means that methylation with MeI tends to occur at the "softer" end of an ambidentate nucleophile.

The CH3I then reacts with carbon monoxide in the presence of a rhodium or iridium complex to form acetyl iodide, the precursor to acetic acid after hydrolysis.

Iodomethane had also been proposed for use as a fungicide, herbicide, insecticide, nematicide, and as a soil disinfectant, replacing methyl bromide (also known as bromomethane) (banned under the Montreal Protocol).

Manufactured by Arysta LifeScience and sold under the brand name MIDAS, iodomethane is registered as a pesticide in the U.S., Mexico, Morocco, Japan, Turkey, and New Zealand and registration is pending in Australia, Guatemala, Costa Rica, Chile, Egypt, Israel, South Africa and other countries.

[15] Iodomethane had been approved for use as a pesticide by the United States Environmental Protection Agency in 2007 as a pre-plant biocide used to control insects, plant parasitic nematodes, soil borne pathogens, and weed seeds.

U.S. EPA has made many assumptions about toxicology and exposure in the risk assessment that have not been examined by independent scientific peer reviewers for adequacy or accuracy.

The California Department of Pesticide Regulation (DPR) concluded that iodomethane is "highly toxic," that "any anticipated scenario for the agricultural or structural fumigation use of this agent would result in exposures to a large number of the public and thus would have a significant adverse impact on the public health", and that adequate control of the chemical in these circumstances would be "difficult, if not impossible.

[17] According to the United States Department of Agriculture iodomethane exhibits moderate to high acute toxicity for inhalation and ingestion.

[24] In its risk assessment of iodomethane, the U.S. EPA conducted an exhaustive scientific and medical literature search over the past 100 years for reported cases of human poisonings attributable to the compound.

[citation needed] Citing the EPA as its source, the California Department of Pesticide Regulation said: "Over the past century, only 11 incidents of iodomethane poisoning have been reported in the published literature.

Iodomethane is routinely and regularly used in industrial processes as well as in most university and college chemistry departments for study and learning related to a variety of organic chemical reactions.

The subject, who was the victim of attempted murder by a GP disguised as a community nurse, went on to develop necrotizing fasciitis but survived.