Should the developing world use DDT?

D

dimpy.handa

Dimpy Handa
Indoor Residual Spraying (IRS) is a method of application in which DDT is used on inside walls where the female Anopheles mosquito rests. The IRS use of DDT was so successful that in the post-war years malaria was eradicated in Europe and the USA, and the burden of the disease was reduced in Africa, Asia and Latin America. The benefits of this can hardly be exaggerated. The mosquito-borne malaria parasite kills over 2 million people annually. Africa, where 90 percent of those fatalities occur, bears most of the human and economic costs of the disease. The effective ban on DDT has increased the mosquito population and made both mosquito control and malaria treatment more difficult. DDT works: Europe and North America have not harboured malarial mosquitoes since the 1940s. In one of the most miraculous public health developments in history, Greece saw malaria cases drop from 1-2 million cases a year to close to zero, also thanks to DDT.
 
Ingesting DDT in any quantity will place the toxin in the organism's body fat deposits for an unknown period of time. The following organisms have suffered the effects of DDT to date:
1. Crayfish
2. Daphnids
3. Sea Shrimp
4. Cats
5. Amphibians
6. Bald eagles
7. Brown pelicans
8. Peregrine falcons
9. Osprey
10. Waterfowl
11. Song birds
12. Humans

The negative effects observed in human beings include premature birth, early pregnancy loss, low birth weight, low semen quality, and a variety of bodily cancers


Still we need to use DDT? Is'nt there a better alternative of DDT present?
 
Since the nationwide ban took effect, there has been a gradual decline in DDT levels in humans and in wildlife. There has been no resurgence of malaria or any of the other diseases that DDT was used to fight in the United States. Moreover, farmers have found effective alternative means to control insect pests. The DDT ban is one of the very few actions directly responsible for the recovery of species once in danger of extinction, including the peregrine falcon, the bald eagle and the brown pelican.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top