Why ddt should not be banned

Because DDT can travel long distances and accumulate in the body, millions of humans and animals worldwide have buildups of the chemical in their tissue, even though it may have been used on another continent. There are no known uses of these chemicals on Midway Island, which is located 3, miles from Los Angeles and 2, miles from Tokyo. Further studies have linked DDT to feminization and altered sex-ratios of gulls, and eggshell thinning in birds of prey.

The first report, "Resolving the DDT Dilemma," released in June , notes that DDT is linked to effects in animals or humans such as reduced lactation and reproductive problems. Thousands of tons of DDT are produced each year in at least three countries and it is legally imported and used in many more. This report summarizes the current state of knowledge regarding the health and environmental effects of DDT and its most popular alternative - synthetic pyrethroids.

It dramatically illustrates the persistence and pervasiveness of DDT. Some of the more recent scientific findings summarized in the report include damage to the developing brain, causing hypersensitivity, behavioral abnormalities and reduced neural signal transmission, and suppression of the immune system resulting in slower response to infections.

These alternatives are less harmful to the environment and human health. Detailed case studies in six areas? They include pesticide-impregnated bednets which reduce the need for indoor spraying ; odor-baited cloth targets to attract and destroy disease-carrying insects; lower-risk pesticides used in rotation to avoid the development of resistance; and widespread elimination of mosquito breeding grounds and introduction of natural predators.

WWF initially called for a global phaseout and eventual ban on DDT production and use by the year , together with financial and technical assistance to the developing world. In addition, this paper will answer the research question by including political documents and research pertaining to Silent Spring itself and the reasons behind the use of DDT to eradicate malaria around the world. This paper will also incorporate the personal collection of Daniel E.

In this fashion, this paper is not only in agreement with the arguments put forth by many of these authors, but will also bring new primary sources into the discussion to help build on previous research.

In order to completely understand the issues associated with DDT, one must know how the chemical operates once applied to an organism. In short, DDT attacks the nervous system via the obstruction of natural nerve impulses, which can cause symptoms such as loss of coordination, convulsions, and vomiting in both animals and humans. This ignorance persisted until Rachel Carson helped bring these issues into the public. Rachel Carson, born in rural Springdale, Pennsylvania, was an avid lover of nature and possessed a strong sense of duty to protect the natural environment.

Upon graduating from Johns Hopkins University in , she joined the U. Fish and Wildlife Service as a marine biologist and went on to write about environmental issues associated with aquatic life. In , Carson received a letter from a colleague in Massachusetts who expressed concern over the massive bird kills at Cape Cod due to the spraying of DDT.

Since the end of World War II, DDT had been used to control diseases, like malaria, at alarming rates, and this episode proved to be what ultimately drove Carson to write Silent Spring. After four years Carson finished the book, which focused mainly on how DDT enters the fatty tissues of animals and humans via bioaccumulation in the food chain, causing cancer and genetic birth defects.

However, the fact that DDT was not officially banned in the United States until a decade after publication shows that many still were unconvinced and considered the chemical a valuable as well as significant weapon in the fight against malaria and other insect-borne diseases. More specifically, it is an organochlorine pesticide that was created in Germany in and was initially used by the US military to help control infectious diseases, such as malaria and typhus, during World War II.

The United States fought the war on two fronts, one being in tropical areas of the Pacific Ocean. DDT was no stranger to propaganda; for every one man killed in battle, malaria would kill eight, which gave the United States a stepping-stone from which to push its DDT agenda during the war. DDT was used largely due to its reasonable cost, demonstrated effectiveness, and persistence in killing insects.

The insecticide also proved to be relatively inexpensive to manufacture and stayed in the environment for a long time, effectively killing any insects that came within a certain range. Between and , cases of malaria fell from approximately , to practically none because of the use of DDT. DDT is still used today in parts of South America, Asia, and Africa with the aim of controlling malaria in places that may not be able to afford more expensive and potentially safer alternatives.

Because of the ban on DDT in the United States in , restrictions have been applied to its use; DDT can legally be produced in the United States but may only be sold to or used by foreign countries. Two of the major reasons behind the ban of DDT were the scientific evidence that exhibited buildup in the fatty tissues of wildlife while persisting in the natural environment and proved the existence of an evolutionary resistance that insects began to develop towards the chemical.

Malaria is a mosquito-borne disease that can be found primarily in tropical and impoverished areas of the Earth. It can cause fevers, headaches, and may even lead to death. In , the first stages of spraying were carried out upon nearly , houses, with the goal of reaching nearly three million households by In South America, malaria was the leading health problem in Ecuador, with about half of the population infected by the disease.

Malaria contributed to the three leading causes of infant mortality in Venezuela, which became the first country to begin a national DDT program in Eradication of malaria in Venezuela was reported to have covered , square miles within a population of 2. After Cuba partnered with the Rockefeller Foundation in using DDT to spray the houses, malaria was no longer a major health problem in some of its rural provinces. Russell of the Rockefeller Foundation. However, in , an increase in anophelism was attributed to the end of DDT application a few years earlier.

These case studies of the effectiveness of DDT in controlling malaria show how important international governments considered the insecticide in the fight against infant deaths and rapid population decline. Environmental Protection Agency in , began regulatory actions in the late s and s to prohibit many of DDT's uses because of mounting evidence of the pesticide's declining benefits and environmental and toxicological effects. The publication in of Rachel Carson's Silent Spring stimulated widespread public concern over the dangers of improper pesticide use and the need for better pesticide controls.

In , EPA issued a cancellation order for DDT based on its adverse environmental effects, such as those to wildlife, as well as its potential human health risks.

Since then, studies have continued, and a relationship between DDT exposure and reproductive effects in humans is suspected, based on studies in animals. In addition, some animals exposed to DDT in studies developed liver tumors. As a result, today, DDT is classified as a probable human carcinogen by U. After the use of DDT was discontinued in the United States, its concentration in the environment and animals has decreased, but because of its persistence, residues of concern from historical use still remain.

Since , EPA has been participating in international negotiations to control the use of DDT and other persistent organic pollutants used around the world. Under the auspices of the United Nations Environment Programme, countries joined together and negotiated a treaty to enact global bans or restrictions on persistent organic pollutants POPs , a group that includes DDT. The Convention includes a limited exemption for the use of DDT to control mosquitoes that transmit the microbe that causes malaria - a disease that still kills millions of people worldwide.