Science Forums 2

[Michaelangelica]

Originally Posted by Ganoderma

Here in Taiwan malaria is said to be totally eradicated....they are still using ddt...

I am persnally against it. it is forcing bad health on people who dont want it. if you dont want malaria, take some steps to avoid mosquitos. there are far less harmfull methods.

look at this it is a great, cheap home made mosquito trap.
http://forums.permaculture.org.au/vi...?p=19180#19180

http://www.capetimes.co.za/index.php...icleId=3356407

DDT dilemma

July 26, 2006

By the Editor

It was Rachel Carson's 1960s book Silent Spring that shocked the world about the damaging effects of DDT on the environment.

Hailed initially as a wonder pesticide because of its apparent non-toxic effects on humans, the lethal effects of DDT emerged many years later.

DDT stays in the environment for decades and is transported over huge distances by water and air. It is even found in the remote Antarctic.

It is stored in fatty tissues and is taken up in the food chain. It is in breast milk, in livestock and in food all over the world. It is highly toxic to fish and to birds. There is a possible link between DDT and the risk of breast cancer, and evidence suggests it may suppress the immune system.

Research in the United States has found that DDT is linked to delays in babies' physical and mental development. Some women in KwaZulu-Natal have up to 77 times more DDT in their breast milk than the international safe limit, while their babies have 12 times the limit.

Many countries banned DDT decades ago. Countries that signed the United Nations' Stockholm Convention have committed themselves to eliminating DDT by 2025.

But because DDT is an effective and cheap way of killing malaria mosquitoes, the convention allows its use until an alternative is found.
South Africa has been using DDT this way for over a decade.

But as a signatory to the convention, South Africa is obliged to promote development to find safe alternatives.
If the departments of health or of science and technology have made advances in this field, they are keeping them quiet.

A worrying fact is that local scientists say they are battling to get funding to study the effects of DDT on people. Even more disturbing is their claim that funding is deliberately blocked.

Malaria is a killer, and it is understandable that a country will use whatever it can to save lives now.