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The DDT Ban Controversy

Dead Children vs. Dead Mosquitoes:. The DDT Ban Controversy. Yolanda Lukovinyova. What is DDT Anyway?. Organochlorine insecticide First synthesized in 1877 1948 Dr. Paul Müller was awarded the Nobel Prize for its insecticide properties

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The DDT Ban Controversy

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  1. Dead Children vs. Dead Mosquitoes: The DDT Ban Controversy Yolanda Lukovinyova

  2. What is DDT Anyway? • Organochlorine insecticide • First synthesized in 1877 • 1948 Dr. Paul Müller was awarded the Nobel Prize for its insecticide properties • Extensively used during WWII to control typhus and malaria • Banned in the US in 1972

  3. DDT Chemical Information

  4. Why did the US ban DDT? • The public outcry based on the book, Silent Spring by Rachel Carson published in 1962 • Scientific studies showed that DDT was carcinogenic • Scientific studies showed that DDT caused thinning egg shells in birds • Toxicity data acquired about DDT

  5. Worldwide Ban Controversy • UN had to decide if a worldwide ban by 2004 should be implemented • The ban was to be imposed on 12 toxic chemicals known as the Dirty Dozen. • DDT is part of the Dirty Dozen

  6. Worldwide Ban Cont’d • Proponents evidence: • Scientific studies done to show DDT is carcinogenic • Scientific studies showing egg shell thinning in various bird populations as a result of DDT • DDT is so stable it takes many years to decompose • DDT accumulates in fatty tissue of animals • Precautionary principle

  7. Worldwide Ban Cont’d • Opponents evidence: • Banning DDT would kill millions of people because it helps control malaria, typhus and other diseases • Many of the scientific studies were flawed • No human has ever died from DDT • Bans should not be based on precautionary principles, rather on science

  8. DDT should not be banned because… • Prevents diseases • Good insecticide • Science proving DDT to be carcinogenic and bad for the environment is flawed • Politics controlled the US decision to ban DDT, not factual science.

  9. DDT is an insecticide • Very effective towards disease carrying mosquitoes • Used heavily after 1945 in the agriculture industry Cheapest insecticide available

  10. DDT prevents diseases • Can be used to kill disease-bearing lice • DDT can be used as a repellant • Sprayed on walls of buildings to repel insects • Diseases insects can carry are malaria, sleeping sickness, and yellow fever

  11. DDT flawed science • Carcinogenic studies • In 1969 study of mice, it was shown that the DDT sprayed mice developed tumors. • Reality was that the mice food was carcinogenic • After the study was redone without carcinogenic food, no mouse formed a tumor

  12. DDT flawed science cont’d • Eggshell thinning evidence • 1968 studies reported high DDT concentrations in the eggs of raptors • Resulting in thinning egg shells • Decline in population • Reality was that the population declined before the use of DDT and after it had been banned • Researchers admitted to the fact that the egg extracts studied had little or no DDT

  13. DDT Flawed Science Cont’d • Another study, done with quails showed a thinning egg shell problem • Quail diet in the study did not have enough calcium • If there is not enough calcium in the diet, egg shells naturally thin

  14. DDT and Politics • US ban was based on politics • 1972, Judge Sweeney listened to 7 months of testimony about DDT and determined it not to be a carcinogenic hazard to man or animals • 2 months later, EPA head declared that DDT was a potential human carcinogen and should be banned

  15. Conclusion • DDT should not be banned worldwide because of the lack of scientific evidence. • Not allowing the use of DDT would kill millions of people around the world • I prefer dead mosquitoes over dead children.

  16. Questions?

  17. Sources Cited • “Biomagnification: how DDT becomes concentrated as it passes through a food chain.” Biomagnification. June 13, 2002. http://www.ultranet.com/~jkimball/BiologyPages/D/DDTandTrophicLevels.html • ChemFinder. June 13, 2002. http://www.chemfinder.com • Dinan, Frank J. and Bieron, Joseph F. “To Spray or Not to Spray: A Debate Over Malaria and DDT.” To Spray or Not to Spray: A Debate Over Malaria and DDT- Case Study Collection. June 13, 2002. http://ublib.buffalo.edu/libraries/projects/cases/ddt/ddt.htm

  18. Sources Cited Cont’d • Milloy, Steven. “At Risk from the Pesticide Myth.” Junkscience.com—At Risk from the Pesticide Myth. June 10, 2002. http://www.junkscience.com/foxnews/fn072800.htm • “Extoxnet Pesticide Information Profile—DDT.” EXTOXNET PIP – DDT. June 13, 2002. http://ace.orst.edu/cgi-bin/mfs/01/pips/ddt.htm • “Facts versus Fears: DDT”. Facts versus fears – DDT. June 13, 2002. http://www.altgreen.com.au/chemicals/ddt.html

  19. Sources Cited Cont’d • Katz, Harry. “DDT and Chlordane Killed by Politics, Not Science.” PCT Online >> Article >> DDT and Chlordane Killed by Politics, Not Science. June 13, 2002. http://www.pctonline.com/articles/article.asp?Id=216&SubCatID=36&CatID=9 • Many images are from Microsoft’s online clipart library. • Mosquito. June 14, 2002. seth-swims.ohdrats.com/ sounds/ wav/ mosquito.wav • Sound Aerosol Spray Can. June 14, 2002. kumori.free.fr/ aerosol.wav • Virtual Zoo. June 12, 2002. http://students.cs.byu.edu/~ik7/virtualzoo/

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