Question:
I was reading your column regarding concerns over chemicals used to abate bugs and such pests. You made a comment about DDT being banned, and I think you should update your information. The accusations against DDT published by Rachel Carson have now been disproved.This chemical is again being used in Africa and South America to abate mosquitoes. After the banning of DDT, the incidence of malaria began to climb in poorer countries to a major degree. Health authorities figure the upsurge at about 85 percent. After research now shows DDT to not be the source of problems, as claimed by Carson, many countries are beginning to start using it again, and the number of cases of malaria has dropped precipitously. Those who fell for Carson's unsupported diatribe now have considerable egg on their faces.I think you need to research your information on DDT and get correct data.
D.H.P., Pinedale, CA Jun 03, 2007
Answer:
I appreciate your humanitarian desire to limit the spread of malaria. However, DDT is one of a class of pesticides that causes endocrine-system disruption as well as immune-system impairment, cancer, birth defects and infertility in humans and other animal species, wild and domestic (see my book "Eating with Conscience: The Bioethics of Food," NewSage Press, 1997). Carson's "diatribe," as you put it -- her classic book "Silent Spring" (Mariner Books, 2002) -- was a wake-up call to us all. But some people, like yourself, clearly chose to live in denial, or believe the propaganda of the chemical manufacturers.DDT and related man-made chemicals have caused more harm to humans and the environment than malaria. Malaria is a public sanitation, population and nutrition issue for which there are no chemical solutions. Plus, the malaria-carrying mosquitoes quickly develop immunity to DDT and other pesticides
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