Posted on 08/16/2007 8:01:04 PM PDT by narses
Last year, the World Health Organization reversed a 25-year-old policy and recommended using the pesticide DDT to fight malaria in the Third World. A new study published in the public health journal, PLoS ONE, provides more evidence that the decision was long overdue.
The U.S. and Europe solved their malaria problem a half-century ago by employing DDT, but the mosquito-borne disease remains endemic to the lowland tropics of South America, Asia and Africa, where each year a half-billion people are infected and more than a million die. Despite those staggering numbers, radical environmental groups like the Pesticide Action Network continue to oppose use of the insecticide. One of their favorite arguments is that DDT is ineffective because mosquitoes can build resistance to the chemical's toxic properties.
(Excerpt) Read more at online.wsj.com ...
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O'Reilly is right. You people are full of hate. You hate cute little fluffy birds.
Birds or people? A tough call.
Does this mean that the World Health Organization has called off their war against third-world countries?
It really is a tough call. But I vote for the birds. DDT kills eagles.
One more time:
Malaria, once endemic in the southeastern US, was almost completely wiped out BEFORE the introduction of DDT. Civilization is a far more powerful agent against malaria than DDT, and Africa would benefit a lot more from serious efforts to introduce civilization than from the reintroduction of DDT.
Me too. Even if the effects of DDT on wildlife have been exaggerated by environmentalists, they are not completely fictional. The stubborn refusal of the overwhelming majority of Africans to behave in a remotely civilized manner is not a good reason to help them wipe out what little of their wildlife they haven’t already wiped out.
Somebody thinks we don’t need DDT in the USA????? They need to tell that to our pet crow in Alexandria Va. We used to have massive flocks of crows until the West Nile virus killed them all. Now there’s just the one lonely survivor, sort of a winged version of the last of the Mohicans.
No it doesn't, you've been reading a bunch of BS. A friend of mine studied under none other than Heinz Meng himself and HE claimed the entire case against DDT was BS. Raptors started coming back when they outlawed SHOOTING them.
You hate cute little fluffy birds.
You are wrong! I love birds. Let’s exchange recipes.
But if it comes down to birds vs. people, I vote for people.
Of course, that's a false choice. If employed rationally, DDT poses only a minimal threat (if any) to wild bird populations. A considerable body of evidence exists refuting the claim that DDT poses some threat to bald eagles, raptors in general, or to any other species of wild bird.
The number one threat to wild bird populations is suburban sprawl, which destroys thousands of acres of bird habitat every year. According to the National Audobon Society [1], the loss of bird habitat is the greatest threat to bird populations. The U.S. Fish and Wldlife Service says "The greatest threat to birds, and all wildlife, continues to be loss and/or degradation of habitat due to human development and disturbance" [2]. Vehicular traffic, predation by feral and domestic cats, and electrocution from power lines wipe out millions of birds every year as well.
As for its effect on humans, DDT itself is not highly toxic to humans or most other animals; to insects, however, it is pure murder. And, in any case, whatever damage — if any — DDT might cause to humans is preferable to the certain misery of malaria.
DDT is a godsend. With it, we eliminated malaria in the developed world, saving countless millions of lives. The people of the developing world deserve no less. DDT should be removed from the list of banned insecticides and used as our weapon of choice against mosquitoes, lice, and other bloodsucking pests that cause untold suffering for human beings.
My wife loves KFC. I can’t stand the stuff. Years ago I would get Churches Chicken in Detroit.
Love the graphic though!
:-)
DDT also kills bedbugs and mosquitoes. I want my DDT!
Dream, dream, dream. Maybe some day. Huge difference between Africa/Asia and U.S.A.
And what, pray tell, has the population of Africa ever employed rationally???
Nearly all malaria was wiped out in the US before the introduction of DDT. Why can't Africa use the methods we used? Same reason they won't employ DDT rationally.
I do, but I love mean, scary-looking birds like ravens and vultures.
the reason that there are no birds where DDT is sprayed is that without insects to eat, the birds have no need to hang around. They go where the bugs went.
A total ban on the substance was an overreaction and typical of the environmental movement.
Thanks for the early morning chuckle!
Bacon-wrapped breast of spotted owl, grilled over charcoal is simply divine!
No but Sheryl Crow is going to ask them to use less toilet paper.
In the 10 years I lived in Dearborn, the best chicken was from Popeye’s on Greenfield in west Detroit.
Spicy, with red beans and rice. Just about as good as smoked chunky kolbassa from Markiewicz’s on Michigan Ave. just into Detroit.
Michael Chrichton has written compellingly on the aftermath of outlawing DDT — including widespread death from malaria, etc..
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