DDT

 

DDT

 A word, and some references about DDT.

 The question of the use of DDT to control malaria is still being debated by the scientific community.  https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3114806/

 Rachel Carson’s seminal 1962 book “Silent Spring” highlighted the deleterious effects of DDT, particularly on birds of prey in Massachusetts, and on other life forms by extension.  The book set off a liberal backlash that resulted in a ban on use of DDT world-wide, and launched other elements of the environmental movement.   https://www.nrdc.org/stories/story-silent-spring

 Some detractors of “Silent Spring” and the ban on DDT posit that this resulted in upwards of 30,000,000 deaths in Africa, by allowing virtually unopposed spread of malaria.

https://cei.org/onpoint/when-politics-kills-malaria-and-the-ddt-story/

https://21sci-tech.com/articles/summ02/DDT.html

 One point made was that it was not the DDT compound that caused that caused deleterious effects in birds and other life-forms, it was the petroleum based fuel carrier. https://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2007/05/rachel_carson_and_the_deaths_o.html

 There is now a movement to restore DDT as an effective pesticide for control of mosquitoes causing malaria and other destructive insects.

https://www.nytimes.com/2004/04/11/magazine/what-the-world-needs-now-is-ddt.html

Ray Gruszecki

November 16, 2020