Should we bring back DDT?

[ironsides]

After all the damage to wildlife, some want to bring back DDT again.

A leading entomologist describes the death and suffering caused by insect-borne diseases, and tells why we must bring back DDT.

http://www.21stcenturysciencetech.com/articles/Fall02/Mosquitoes.html

The best example of DDT's effectiveness is South Africa. Under international pressure, South Africa stopped DDT spraying in 1999 and death rates spiked up. Half of these deaths were children under five. South Africa went back to DDT in 2000 and promptly reduced malaria rates by seventy-five percent. Nevertheless, international aid agencies continue to refuse to support DDT use. They threaten to withhold aid from countries that use the pesticide

http://www.aim.org/media-monitor/ddt-coming-back/

 

[petros]

Claiming safe use of DDT is like claiming there are peaceful uses for nukes.

 

[ironsides]

There are other ways to keep the mosquito population down. A simple way is just spread a thin coat of a biodegradable oil like substance over ponds and other breeding grounds for them, it will suffocate the mosquito larva.

 

[Tonington]

How soon some science illiterati forget what happens when you spray a poison on organisms that go from egg to adult in 5 days, and can lay up to 3000 eggs in a lifetime.

The take home message is that DDT isn't worth it. Persistent use leads to adaptations and resistant populations. The gene for which can persist for decades even after the use of the chemical applications stop.

 

[Cannuck]

Of course we should bring back DDT. It is one more tool in the tool box. Opponents of DDT, point to history however nobody is claiming that it should be used indiscriminately.

 

[petros]

How soon some science illiterati forget what happens when you spray a poison on organisms that go from egg to adult in 5 days, and can lay up to 3000 eggs in a lifetime.

NEEM!!! 100% natural and safe. It prevents eggs from hatching and larvae from morphing to adults.

 

[Tonington]

In 1972 Cannuck, there were already 19 species of mosquito that were resistant to the chemical. That number only grows if it is used any more. Nobody is claiming that it will be used persistently, but they probably would be right if they did. Most mosquito eradication programs are persistent. They don't amount to much unless they are.

There are already documented cases of changing behaviour in Africa. They now rest on exterior walls where the insecticide is not--for those that can't metabolize the chemical, or are otherwise immune to it's effects.

The opportunities for it's use are low, and the potential for more harm are high. It makes no sense.

Science is already working on alternatives. Such as transgenic mosquitos, though that is fraught with uncertainty. The best option is to help improve health care in the malaria prone regions, so that malaria becomes a minimal threat.

 

[talloola]

Most anything that DDT would kill, is 'eaten' by some other lifeform, so the spread
of the crap would be automatic, and the beginning of deformation and death of
many species, just like before.
eg. last night while golfing, many sparrows were zooming around a pond, and
a second look told us why, there was a hatch of mosquitos, and they were
catching them, glad those mosquitos were not carrying DDT on their bodies,
if those mosquitos were allready dead, they would have been eaten by fish
in the pond, or other species, and on and on it goes.
There are natural products that are biodegradable to eliminate or reduce the
spread of mosquitos.

 

[petros]

NEEM!!! 100% natural and safe. It prevents eggs from hatching and larvae from morphing to adults.

Malaria Journal | Full text | Larvicidal effects of a neem (Azadirachta indica) oil formulation on the malaria vector Anopheles gambiae

 

[AnnaG]

Most anything that DDT would kill, is 'eaten' by some other lifeform, so the spread
of the crap would be automatic, and the beginning of deformation and death of
many species, just like before.
eg. last night while golfing, many sparrows were zooming around a pond, and
a second look told us why, there was a hatch of mosquitos, and they were
catching them, glad those mosquitos were not carrying DDT on their bodies,
if those mosquitos were allready dead, they would have been eaten by fish
in the pond, or other species, and on and on it goes.
There are natural products that are biodegradable to eliminate or reduce the
spread of mosquitos.

And the poisons tend to accumulate more in the critters closer to the tops of the food chains; like people, for instance. I'll pass on the DDT, thanks. We haven't had any skeetos here yet this year. Think I found 3 last year. There are not many places for them to lay eggs and breed here.

 

[AnnaG]

NEEM!!! 100% natural and safe. It prevents eggs from hatching and larvae from morphing to adults.

Malaria Journal | Full text | Larvicidal effects of a neem (Azadirachta indica) oil formulation on the malaria vector Anopheles gambiae

Seems to be cool stuff. I'll let my Dad know about it. TY

 

[petros]

It has tonne of human uses too.

Neem is known as the medicine tree in India and for good reasons.

Absolutely nothing is better for eczema, acne, dermatitis, elastin retention, birth control, anti-viral, antibacterial, accelerates healing and even gets rid of the meanest of crotch crickets.

Message me for a for an incredible skin bar recipe.


DDT. Only sick ****s with no morals would consider ever using that again when nature works best against nature and always has.

Must be the same people who insist on everyone brushing their teeth with rat poison thrice daily which is another idiocy that needs to be re-evaluated for sanity and morality.

 

[Cannuck]

I brush my teeth four times a day with rat poison and it hasn't bothered me.




I brush my teeth four times a day with rat poison and it hasn't bothered me.




I brush my teeth four times a day with rat poison and it hasn't bothered me.




I brush my teeth four times a day with rat poison and it hasn't bothered me.



Only a fool would completely ban anything without a cost benefit analysis. At certain times and in certain places DDT should remain an option just like other methods.

 

[petros]

Would you use it in your neighbourhood even if there were other non-toxic alternates?

 

[Walter]

My mother-in-law still has a container of DDT in her garden shed. She's waiting for some tree-hugger to try and turn her in so she can kick him in the gonads.

 

[petros]

If he still has gonads thanks to his mother being exposed to your mother in-laws DDT.

 

[Walter]

DDT
The Wall Street Journal Endorses Use of DDT​

The Wall Street Journal endorses using DDT on its Editorial Opinion page (8/16/07) stating: "Opponents of DDT are only ensuring more misery and death." Great. We have been stating this for years. It is good to know that this respected publication has finally come around to agreeing with us.​

Use It To Stop Deaths From Malaria In African Countries​

The African American Environmentalist Association believes that DDT (Dichloro-diphenyl-trichloroethane) insecticide should be used to prevent deaths from malaria in African countries. DDT is an organochlorine pesticide that has been used as an insecticide in agriculture and to combat insect vectors of diseases such as malaria and typhus. Because of its effectiveness at killing insects with few acute effects on humans, DDT had been a mainstay to fight malaria, a parasitic disease that is a growing health threat in Africa and other parts of the world. DDT should also be used in India, Brazil and Mexico, where 69% of all reported cases of malaria occur (Mosq Control Assoc, 1998). Malaria afflicts hundreds of millions of people and causes millions of human deaths each year. Swiss scientist Paul Muller was awarded the 1948 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for discovering (1939) DDT's insecticidal properties.
DDT kills mosquitoes. Malaria is transmitted to humans via mosquito bites. According to U.N. estimates, malaria kills one child every 30 seconds and more than a million people each year.

AAEA believes that DDT should be used in African countries as it was in the United States for decades until malaria is irradicated. Then, use should be limited. Although other groups charge that DDE (from breakdown of DDT) is found in mothers milk, such effects are not comparable to the deadly effects of malaria. Malaria must be eliminated. And DDT is the best way to eliminate the parasite. Kill the insect. Stop the parasite carried by the insect. Then reduce or eliminate use of DDT. During the approximately 30 years that DDT was used in the U.S., almost 700,000 tons wer sprayed onto cotton and other crops. The peak year was 1958, when nearly 80 million pounds of DDT was sprayed onto American farmlands.
DDT is a pesticide used to control insects that carry dieases such as malaria. DDT is a white, crystalline solid with no odor or taste. Numerous studies indicate that DDT is not a carcinogenic hazard to humans. However, EPA lists DDT as a 'probable human carcinogen.' DDT affects the nervous system if swallowed in large amounts. Studies conclude that there are no serious effects in people under normal use. According to ATSDR, there are no studies on the health effects of children exposed to DDT. There is no evidence that DDT causes birth defects in people.

 

[petros]

Of course they do. Who owns Wall Street Urinal? A petrochemical company?

 

[petros]

DDT affects the nervous system if swallowed in large amounts.

And when compounded in fat it will do the same damn thing.

Should we put lead back in gasoline and paint too?

 

[Walter]

Of course they do. Who owns Wall Street Urinal? A petrochemical company?

This is too easy.

September 15, 2006
The World Health Organization today announced a major policy change. It's actively backing the controversial pesticide DDT as a way to control malaria. Malaria kills about 1 million people a year, mainly children, and mainly in Africa, despite a decades-long effort to eradicate it.