DDT is the most infamous of a class of chemical compounds called organochlorine pesticides, or OC pesticides, for those on a first name basis with the widely used poisons. They arrive in our bodies (and yes, they are among the most commonly found chemicals in our bodies) mainly on board the milk, fish, and meat that we eat, and they have been suspected, for some time, of increasing the likelihood of prostate cancer. Now comes research from the department of biostatistics and epidemiology at the University of Florida suggesting that the suspicion is well-founded. Researchers at the school, who looked at data from the 1999 to 2004 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, found that “background exposure to OC pesticides was positively associated with the
prevalence of prostate cancer in the U.S. general population. The
associations were consistently in the same direction, although the
details of associations were substantially different depending on the
specific subclass of OC pesticides.” Want more info? Read an abstract from the study in Environmental Health Perspectives.
Health, fitness and lifestyle tips for people over 50 who still like to play hard
Saturday, May 31, 2025
But look at how many millions of people have died from diseases caused by mosquitoes in the third world countries since they pulled it off the shelf. And how many millions it saved when it was in use eradicating disease transmitting Anopheles mesquitoes ( Melaria)And between 1945- 1965 saved more lives than probably any man made drug or chemical.
http://www.gladwell.com/2001/2001_07_02_a_ddt.htm
Ummm… Google “knockdown resistance in mosquitoes”. See what you come up with.
When suggestions create suspicions SCIENCE has moved forward to the Salem Witch trails. Technology should have moved “suggestion” science to the curb. It seems that it will always be that someone chasing a boogyman and a writer willing to report that story spewing as they go. Since Rachel Carson created the lie that eggshells were effected directly from DDT there will be someone willing to continue pushing a similar scare. More likely someone searching for funding. And from my UofF no less.
And it was more than the 3rd world saved, it was anywhere that DDT was used human lives were saved.
My grandfather used DDT extensively in his veggie garden. Prostate cancer killed him. Prostate cancer struck my father at age 58.
It is well known that broad spectrum spraying of pesticides in an attempt to avoid dealing with the conditions that encourage mosquito breeding – and neglecting to make more healthy control alternatives like bednets readily available – are not effective long-term ways to combat malaria.
For those who believe DDT is a good thing…
http://www.worldwatch.org/node/517
May/June 2002
Malaria, Mosquitoes, and DDT
“…And yet Africa is not a lost cause-it’s simply that the key to progress does not lie in the general suppression of mosquito populations. Instead of spraying, the most promising African programs rely primarily on “bednets”-mosquito netting that is treated with an insecticide, usually a pyrethroid, and that is suspended over a person’s bed. Bednets can’t eliminate malaria, but they can “deflect” much of the burden. Because Anopheles species generally feed in the evening and at night, a bednet can radically reduce the number of infective bites a person receives. Such a person would probably still be infected from time to time, but would usually be able to lead a normal life.
In effect, therefore, bednets can substantially reduce the disease. Trials in the use of bednets for children have shown a decline in malaria-induced mortality by 25 to 40 percent. Infection levels and the incidence of severe anemia also declined. In Kenya, a recent study has shown that pregnant women who use bednets tend to give birth to healthier babies. In parts of Chad, Mali, Burkina Faso, and Senegal, bednets are becoming standard household items. In the tiny west African nation of The Gambia, somewhere between 50 and 80 percent of the population has bednets.
Bednets are hardly a panacea. They have to be used properly and retreated with insecticide occasionally. And there is still the problem of insecticide resistance, although the nets themselves are hardly likely to be the main cause of it. (Pyrethroids are used extensively in agriculture as well.) Nevertheless, bednets can help transform malaria from a chronic disaster to a manageable public health problem -something a healthcare system can cope with.
So it’s unfortunate that in much of central and southern Africa, the nets are a rarity. It’s even more unfortunate that, in 28 African countries, they’re taxed or subject to import tariffs. Most of the people in these countries would have trouble paying for a net even without the tax. This problem was addressed in the May 2000 “Abuja Declaration,” a summit agreement on infectious diseases signed by 44 African countries. The Declaration included a pledge to do away with “malaria taxes.” At last count, 13 countries have actually acted on the pledge, although in some cases only by reducing rather than eliminating the taxes. Since the Declaration was signed, an estimated 2 to 5 million Africans have died from malaria.
This failure to follow through with the Abuja Declaration casts the interest in DDT in a rather poor light. Of the 31 POPs treaty signatories that have reserved the right to use DDT, 21 are in Africa. Of those 21, 10 are apparently still taxing or imposing tariffs on bednets. (Among the African countries that have not signed the POPs treaty, some are almost certainly both using DDT and taxing bednets, but the exact number is difficult to ascertain because the status of DDT use is not always clear.) It is true that a case can be made for the use of DDT in situations like the one in South Africa in 1999-an infrequent flare-up in a context that lends itself to control. But the routine use of DDT against malaria is an exercise in toxic futility, especially when it’s pursued at the expense of a superior and far more benign technology…”