[Hot Tabasco]

I quickly realized that DDT and other pesticides and industrial organic chemicals that persisted in the environment ranged from suspect to genuinely harmful.

So how do you view DDT now?

[Rockingham]

Negatively. Even at best, DDT breaks down into persistent organic chemicals that have injurious effects on human health and on wildlife and the environment. The same criticisms hold true for almost all pesticides, plastics, and artificial organic chemicals.

If you are willing to risk an OMG moment, read the peer reviewed medical and scientific articles from Medline with the search terms "microplastics" or "persistent organic pollutants." Many of the article are free, and others can be accessed through your local public library or academic library.

Inevitably, there is a tension between safety and the qualities we want in pesticides, plastics, and many artificial chemicals in foods and consumer products. We want persistence, meaning that the useful qualities last more than natural equivalents. Yet that very persistence also means that they tend to last longer than is desirable after they have accomplished their immediate purpose.

Granted, the environmental movement has its wackos, unreasonable demands, and impossible expectations. Yet industry and the American elite are broadly compromised by careerism, profiteering, and lack of regard for the public interest. As always, the best way though the competing claims and assertions is to review the evidence and determine the facts for yourself.